macaroni cheese
rating:Serves two
Put a generous double handful of macaroni into slightly salted water, and bring to the boil. When boiled, put a lid on the pan and turn off heat.
Cheese sauce mixture
In a (preferably non-stick) pan over a medium low heat, put in a dessert spoonful of butter or margarine and another of flour (about 2 oz if you need to measure). Add a splosh of milk and stir, and keep stirring. When it has gone into a large lump, add a little more milk and keep stirring, and so on. Doing it this way will avoid little hard-to-get-rid-of lumps. You need to put in roughly 3/4 pint of milk in total but don't put it all in at once!
When you have a nice creamy mixture, add salt, ground black pepper and mixed herbs to taste. You might also like to experiment with ground chilli powder or curry powder. Add a generous handful of grated cheese, preferably a strong flavoured cheddar. The stronger the cheese, the less you need of it, I find. (Tip: I grate a whole pack of cheese and keep it in the freezer for use in cooking and packed lunches. This saves no end of time.)
Classic receipes will tell you to turn off the heat whilst the cheese melts, but I prefer to leave it on. If the mix is too thick, add a little more milk.
Drain the macaroni, which should now be cooked through, and add to the cheese sauce. Mix to cover all the pasta, and serve. I have friends who eat this with toast. Each to their own...
You can use broccoli instead of macaroni (lovely!) or add chopped bacon to the cheese sauce for a non-veggie option. Because this is made with cheese, this receipe is also a useful way of finishing up milk that's on the turn.
