Carbs: macaroni cheese recipe

For a classic macaroni cheese you can count on, you need to stand over a large pot of béchamel and personally load it with Cheddar and some key accessories.

Laura Goodman15 November 2018

SERVES 5-6

Ingredients
*500g macaroni
*100g unsalted butter, plus 3 tbsp for the top
*75g plain flour
*1.2 litres milk
*275g mature Cheddar cheese, grated, plus 50g for the top
*1 tbsp English mustard
*½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
*50g breadcrumbs
*salt and pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6 and get some salted water boiling for the macaroni.

2. Cook the macaroni for 2 minutes less than the packet indicates, drain it and leave it to one side, keeping back half a ladle of pasta water.

3. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, melt the butter over a medium heat. When it’s melted, add the flour, and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth and beautifully beige. Add the milk bit by bit. It’ll take you on a whole journey, thickening up before it smooths back out again. All you have to do is keep stirring. Switch to a whisk if it helps. Once you’ve added all the milk, keep the sauce on the heat and stir through the cheese, followed by the mustard and nutmeg, and then salt and pepper to taste.

4. Add the macaroni to the sauce, along with the pasta water, and stir until even. Tip this straight into a wide, shallow oven dish, using a flexible spatula to get to all the sauce.

5. Melt the extra butter and mix it with the extra cheese and the breadcrumbs. Sprinkle this mix over the macaroni cheese.

6. Bake for about 30 minutes, until golden brown all over.

More from Carbs: