I have a thing about mac cheese.
To me, it’s the ultimate in luxuriously, indulgent comfort food. All of that wonderfully cheesy pasta…unfortunately, these days, mac cheese gets in the way of the numbers that I want to be seeing on the scales, so is a rare indulgence- as it probably should be.
When I really want to over indulge I go for the cheffy quattro formaggio souffled mac cheese, but this one is probably the healthiest of all the macaroni recipes I regularly use- if “healthy” is an adjective one can apply to Macaroni Cheese!
Anyways, this is one of Miss T’s most requested winter dinners. In fact if I make it on Tuesday nights, I normally have enough left to cover off Wednesdays when Mr T is at football “training”.
The quantities are fairly loose- I don’t tend to weigh stuff out. You can if you want.
I normally make this recipe with low fat milk- for 2 reasons: it is usually all I have in the fridge and also, but naturally more importantly, it makes me feel so much more virtuous, if, indeed one can feel virtuous making macaroni cheese!
Likewise, I tend to just use a packet of bacon- even though the pancetta does give a far superior taste and is worth the trip to the deli section if you have time or are planning ahead. I’m not great at planning ahead.
I’m experimenting with the no lactose thing at the moment, so have also been substituting the dairy element with a lactose free substitute. The taste is different, but if you’re used to the lactose free thing, you won’t notice any different.
If you really want to kid along with the faux healthy thing, serve it with a green salad- it helps cut through the cheese- but we prefer to eat it out of noodle bowls on our laps in front of the telly with a glass of red.
What you need:
- Olive Oil
- 3 garlic cloves, chopped finely
- 1 dried chilli, crushed, or 1 large pinch of dried chilli flakes
- ½ cinnamon stick
- 1 large butternut pumpkin, peeled, de-seeded and chopped into 2cm chunks
- 400g macaroni
- 300ml milk
- 1 cup (250ml) thickened cream
- 150g parmesan, grated
- 8 slices rindless bacon or pancetta, roughly diced
- Sprig of fresh rosemary, leaves picked
- 3-4 slices day old bread, crusts removed, torn into chunks (about 150g)
What you do with it:
- Add a splash of olive oil to a saucepan over medium-low heat and fry the garlic gently until light brown.
- Add the chilli, cinnamon & pumpkin and a glass of water or 2.
- Cover with a lid and cook on medium heat for about 20mins or until the pumpkin is soft.
- Uncover & boil the liquid around the pumpkin until reduced to almost nothing.
- Remove from the heat and take out the cinnamon. Mash the pumpkin (I usually use a fork) & season. I usually mix through the milk & cream at this point.
- Meanwhile, cook macaroni in boiling salted water until al dente. Don’t overcook the pasta at this stage as will be getting additional time in the over with the sauce.
- Drain it well and toss it into the mashed pumpkin mixture.
- Add ¾ of the parmesan and season. Spoon it into a large (2 litre) baking dish.
- Cook the pancetta or bacon in a large frypan over medium heat until light brown. Add rosemary and bread, fry gently for 1-2 minutes & then pulse in a food processor until chopped.
- Sprinkle the pasta with the remaining parmesan, then top with the bacon, bread & rosemary crumbs.
- Bake in an oven that you’ve had the forethought to heat to 200degCfor 30mins or until warmed through, and crispy and bubbling on top.
If you’re gluten free simply substitute the macaroni for your usual gluten free pasta and omit the breadcrumbs.
This recipe has been adapted from one originally published in Delicious Magazine by Jamie Oliver in 2005…all rights blah blah to the original author…
And Anyways... 