Recipe | Mac and Cheese Dreams

Like I said in my last recipe, I've been in a cheesy world the last week or two. I threw a classic macaroni and cheese recipe together which turned out pretty well and thought I'd hone it down a little more before I presented it to you. This is my second attempt at the classic dish and I'm pretty impressed with myself. I've had a look at other simple recipes online and this seems fairly on par with them too. You'll notice a little greenery mixed in as well which is my attempt to make this semi-nutritious. 

Serves 4

Ingredients

350g small elbow pasta/macaroni/liscio piccolo, uncooked

1/3 cup unsalted butter

1/3 cup plain flour

450ml milk

1 egg, whisked

1 1/4 cup strong vintage cheddar, grated

1 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated 

1/2 zucchini, grated

Preheat oven to 180°C. Place a large pot of water onto boil with a pinch of salt. Once boiling add pasta and cook until when tested, is slightly too chewy to serve. Drain and drizzle with a small amount of olive oil (if you like) and set aside.

Meanwhile, in a smaller pot melt butter over a low heat. While continually stirring, slowly add flour. A gooey paste should form. In a similar method to the flour, slowly pour in milk and stir until it starts to thicken. The gooey paste formed by the flour and butter should be dissolving into the milk and a beautiful white sauce should be appearing. Momentarily remove pan from the heat and slowly add the whisked egg. Once thickened, add 1 cup of grated strong vintage cheddar and 1 cup of parmesan. Continue to stir until it almost becomes too thick to stir and quickly remove from the heat. 

This next step is entirely up to you in the way in which you do it but this is my method. Slowly, adding a large spoonful at a time, add the cooked pasta into the cheese sauce until it is all combined. If the sauce looks to be running a bit low, you've added enough pasta and the rest can be used for another dish. I find this quantity of pasta to work fine though. 

Add in the zucchini and combine. Decant into a baking dish and cover with the remaining cheese for a beautiful crispy finish. Place in the preheated oven for 15-20minutes or until golden brown on top.

Serve up and enjoy the cheesy goodness!

Happy Holidays! 

Erin xx