food photography, macaroni, pasta

Macaroni Cheese With Options

This is a classic family favourite of mine which I often add bacon or ham to. You can also add lobster to the macaroni cheese if you want to make an extra special (and also much more expensive) version of this dish. I will do a seperate version for making it with lobster as I add extras to the cheese sauce to enhance the lobster. This recipe serves four with a side salad or some vegetables to accompany.

Ingredients

250g dried macaroni tubes

2 or more rashers of bacon – smoked will taste amazing but you can used unsmoked or some ham.

Margarine or butter – 1 heaped tablespoon

Plain flour – 1 heaped tablespoon

Milk – 300ml or so of milk – any kind is fine

Strong Cheddar cheese grated – a good handful

Method

Place a large pan of cold water on the heat and turn up high. You should probably add salt, but I avoid cooking with salt if I can. When the water comes to the boil, tip in the macaroni, bring back to the boil and cook for 8 minutes. This is assuming that your macaroni will take 10 minutes to cook. This dish is baked as well as boiled so there will be some more cooking going on in the oven and you don’t want to over cook it. So look at the packet and check how long it takes to cook and deduct 2 minutes from the time required. After 8 minutes, drain the macaroni and leave to steam over the pan.

Grill the bacon until cripsy, cool and then snip into strips using scissors.

To make the cheese sauce, get a small saucepan, melt the margarine and flour on a low heat and gently cook through for a minute or so. Add the milk a bit at a time stirring often to remove any potential lumps. I use a whisk just to make sure! When the sauce is the right consistency – you may have to add a bit more milk, or use a bit less, add the cheese in two batches making sure its all melted in.

Put the macaroni in an oven proof dish, sprinkle on the bacon or ham, pour over the sauce and give the mix a gently poke with a fork to ensure all the macaroni is covered. Bake uncovered in the oven at 180 centigrade for 20 minutes minimum or until gently browned and bubbling. Serve with salad, garlic bread, pizza or vegetables.

If you liked this recipe for macaroni cheese, , you might like my home made meatballs recipe: https://cookingwithfi.com/healthy-home-made-meatballs/

I’ve also got a you tube video channel. Check out my cauliflower cheese recipe here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ie2G-B-rW9w&t=48s

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