Mac & Cheese

A cheesy pasta family favourite

Serves	4-6
Prep time	10 minutes
Cook time	40 minutes

This dish is a classic worldwide and is especially popular in the Caribbean where it is often served with a roast. This recipe will also teach you how to make a basic roux sauce.

Ingredients

500g	macaroni
50g	butter
30g	flour
400-600ml	milk
300g	cheddar cheese, grated
1	onion, diced
4 tbsps	dried breadcrumbs
	salt, to taste

Method

Preheat an oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4.
Place the macaroni in a pan, fill with boiling water and bring to the boil. Add a little salt and cook for ten minutes or until cooked.
While you wait for the pasta, melt 20g butter in a large pan over a medium heat. Once melted add the onions with a pinch of salt and cook until soft.
Once the pasta and the onions have cooked, strain the pasta and combine with the onions in a baking tray and set to one side.
Now for the sauce. Return to the pan you cooked the onions in and melt the rest of the butter over a low heat.
Once the butter has melted, add the flour bit by bit, mixing all the time to ensure that no clumps remain. A flat spatula works well as a mixing tool to prevent any of the mix sticking to the pan.
Once all the flour has been added, start pouring in the milk a little bit at a time and mix together. Continue this process until you have created a sauce of enough volume to cover all your pasta to the consistency of your liking.
Now add your cheese, a handful at a time, until it has all melted. Pour this over the pasta and mix evenly.
Sprinkle the pasta with breadcrumbs and cover with tin foil. Place in the oven for 10 minutes.
To finish, remove the tin foil and place under the grill for two minute at a medium high heat.