Macaroni Cheese

Serves 4  Cooking and prep time: 50 minutes

Ingredients

350g of macaroni pasta or short tubular pasta

1 crushed garlic clove

1tbp butter

1 tsp English mustard

3 tbp plain flour

500ml milk

250g grated mature cheddar

50g parmesan or vegetarian equivalent

Method

1. Heat the oven to gas 6 / 200C / 180C fan.
2. Part boil the pasta for 2 minutes.
3. Melt the butter in another pan and add the garlic and mustard. Cook for a minute and stir in the flour. Cook for another minute, then add the milk gradually, whisking it to prevent lumps.
4. Simmer for 5 minutes, whisking as it thickens.
5. Remove from the heat and stir in the cheeses. Leave a little grated cheese aside for sprinkling later.
6. Add the pasta to the cheese sauce and stir together.
7. Add the seasoning and stir again.
8. Pour the pasta and sauce into an ovenproof dish and sprinkle over the rest of the cheese.
9. Place on the middle shelf of oven and bake for 20 minutes until golden brown.

Top Tip

For a crunchy crumb topping, make some croutons and sprinkle over the top, before sprinkling over the top the remaining grated cheese.

Alternatively, add other vegetables to add variety like bell peppers or tomatoes etc.