Baked Macaroni and Cheese

Who here loves a good macaroni anc cheese?!?! I certainly do and one thing I love is homemade mac and cheese baked in an oven with crispy panko bread crumbs on it!!

I love making this especially during a busy week of studying, I have my friends from Uni over and it is a bit of a gourmet twist on the original mac and cheese.

This recipe is quick and simple and has a bit more texture than your regular mac and cheese and I hope you like it!!

350g uncooked elbow macaroni pasta

60g plain flour

40g butter

1/2-1tsp english mustard

600ml milk (plus more if needed)

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 vegetable/chicken stock cube

200g cheddar cheese

Parmesan cheese for sprinkling

1 Cup panko bread crumbs

10g melted butter

2 medium/large saucepans

1 baking dish

1 wooden spoon

1 sieve

1 Fan-forced oven

In one of the large saucepans fill it with water and bring it to the boil. Add about 1-2 teaspoons of salt (if you like) and add the pasta. Cook the pasta as per the directions on the packet but 1-2 minutes less to prevent the pasta overcooking. You want it to be al dente (slightly chewy).

When the pasta is cooked drain the water, but reserve some water incase the pasta becomes sticky.

While the pasta is cooking make the cheese sauce.

In the other large sauce pan melt the 40g butter and then add the flour and mix until combined creating a dough

like ball or paste. Then to the pot add about 100ml of milk at a time and stir into the flour mixture until well combined.

After adding half the milk use a whisk to stir, this ensures any lumps are removed. Then turn the sauce onto a high heat until the sauce thickens (1-2minutes). Add half the cheddar cheese into the sauce and stir it in. and add the stock cube, garlic powder, mustard, salt and pepper (add more cheese until it suits your taste).

If the pasta has stuck together add some of the reserved cooking water to the pasta to loosen it up.

Pour the cheese sauce into the cooked pasta and stir it until it the cheese sauce is evenly spread. Pour the cheesy pasta into the baking dish.

Then pour the melted butter into the breadcrumbs and then sprinkle it over the pasta.

*optional* Grate some parmesan cheese over the top.

Bake the pasta in a 180°C (fan forced) preheated oven for between 10-15 minutes until the breadcrumbs are golden brown.

When the pasta has finished cooking let it sit for a couple minutes then serve it with some salad or fresh steamed broccoli.