Macaroni Cheese - Jamie Oliver

Once a week I like to whip up a vegetarian dinner. However the meal still needs to be hearty and filling. Therefore, I made Macaroni Cheese based on Jamie Oliver’s recipe.

I adapted his recipe since I was shopping at a nearby supermarket which had neither cheddar nor parmesan. As cooking isn’t set in stone, I used mozzarella and emmentaler. Also, I blended 3 slices of bread to get fresh breadcrumbs.
Here’s how it looked before it went into the oven for 30mins.

And tadahhhhh!!!! Golden brown and crispy top!

I halved the recipe to serve 4-5 but the two of us managed to eat about 3 people’s worth of it. Shows you more morish this simple but delightful dish can be.

Once again, this is another fuss-free and successful Jamie Oliver recipe.

How about making some in your kitchen this weekend? Here’s the recipe!

Ingredients (Serves 8 - 10)

• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 45 g butter
• 3 heaped tablespoons plain flour
• 10 cloves garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• 6 bay leaves
• 1 litre semi-skimmed milk
• 600 g dried macaroni
• 8 tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 150 g Cheddar cheese, freshly grated
• 100 g Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• a few sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
• 2 splashes Worcestershire sauce, optional
• 1 grating nutmeg, optional
• 3 big handfuls fresh breadcrumbs
• olive oil  

Instructions

1. Boil a pot of salted water.

2. In a pan, melt the butter over low heat, add the flour and turn the heat up to medium. Mix well till you get a paste.

3. Add all the sliced garlic to the paste and mix well. The garlic will caramelise and become golden brown and sticky. 

4. Next, add bay leaves and milk slowly to ensure you get a smooth sauce. Bring the mixture to boil and then leave it to simmer.

5. Preheat your oven to 220 degress Cels.

6. Add pasta to the boiling pot of water and cook according to the instructions on the packaging.

7. Season chopped tomatoes with salt and pepper.

8. Drained cooked pasta and add to the sauce. Stir in the cheese, chopped tomatoes, thyme leaves and a couple of dashes of Worchestershire sauce. A little nutmeg would be nice too but this is optional.

9. Transfer the pasta mixture into an ovenproof dish, srpinkle fresh breadcrumbs all over it and bake for 30 minutes. (This step is different to the original recipe!)

10. Serve while it's hot.