Macaroni Monday :9

Mmmmm! Macaroni! :9

Sadly this is not on tonights menu, but is a meal I made and photographed some time ago... Sadly I haven't been able to indulge for a couple of weeks as my stomach has been a little particular! I don't really want to go into all the grisly details, lets just say I've not been eating properly!

But anyway... back to the macaroni!

I like a number of different Macaroni cheese recipes, but I've been making this baked version for a looooong time... I can't even remember where the recipe came from! It may possibly have been my high school cook book from home economics class! :O I'm not sure if this is the same though, I think it may have been modified over the years! lol

Ingredients:

• 50g butter (real butter works best, but you can use margarine too)
• 50g plain flour
• 500ml full fat milk (you can use skimmed, etc. but the flavour wont be as rich!)
• 200g macaroni (to be honest, I use whatever shaped pasta I have in the house)
• 250g grated cheddar cheese (the stronger the better!)
• pinch salt and pepper
• 1 rounded teaspoon of mustard (you can use any kind, I like english mustard or wholegrain as the seeds look really nice in the sauce)

Method:

1. Bring some salted water to the boil and add the pasta (follow instructions on pack to cook your pasta till al dente and drain) 
2. pre-heat the oven to 180ºC
3. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a low heat
4. Add the flour and cook for a minute, stirring all the time
5. Gradually stir in the milk, a little at a time else it will get lumpy!
6. Turn up to a medium heat and bring the milk mixture thickens and begins to  boil. You need to keep stirring all the time else the sauce will go lumpy at the bottom of the pan.
7. Allow to boil over a low heat for a couple of minutes then add two thirds of the cheese, the mustard and salt and pepper to taste.
8. Mix the pasta to the sauce and pour into a suitable oven dish
9. Sprinkle over the remaining grated cheese (a couple of handfuls of breadcrumbs is nice too)
10. Bake in the oven until cheese turns golden and bubbly (I think its about 30mins?)
11. Alternatively, brown the cheese under a grill... make sure it doesn't burn!
12. ENJOY!

And here's one I made earlier!

A portion on a plate...

I never know what to serve with Mac n cheese... On this occasion
I went for beans and onion rings!

Do you have a favourite mac n cheese recipe? What do you like to serve it with?

Thanks for reading! x