Macaroni Cheese - One Recipe, Three Ways

Welcome to episode five of my series, one recipe, three ways. My weekly series for those who love a recipe but want alternative ways to enjoy it and quite frankly three ideas is better than one.

This recipe is my macaroni cheese which is cooked in a creamy, cheesy béchamel sauce.

This recipe is hearty, comforting, and extremely versatile and can be made into the following recipes:

Macaroni Cheese Prosciutto Cups with Crispy Onions and Chives

Macaroni Cheese Croque Monsieur

Mozzarella Stuffed Macaroni Cheese Balls

Ingredients

300g macaroni pasta

250g mature cheddar

50g parmesan

30g unsalted butter

45g plain flour

500ml whole milk

1 tsp Dijon mustard

Sea salt and pepper

Method

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add in the macaroni pasta. Cook for the required pasta times on the packaging.

2. Melt butter in a large saucepan over a medium heat and sprinkle in flour and whisk to combine

3. Cook for roughly 1 minute, whilst whisking - Slowly pour in about half of the milk whisking constantly, until smooth

4. Slowly pour in the remaining milk while whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens

5. Add in the grated cheese, season with salt, pepper and dijon mustard and mix until smooth. Add the cooked pasta into the macaroni cheese sauce

6. Add into a oven proof dish and top with mozzarella

7. Cook for 20 minutes until the top is golden brown and crispy

Macaroni Cheese Prosciutto Cups with Crispy Onions and Chives

Add 2 slices of prosciutto into a greased muffin tin to create a small cup shape. Cook in the oven on gas mark 5/190 degrees for 5 minutes. Spoon in macaroni cheese into each prosciutto cup and top with crispy onions. Cook in the oven for a further 5 minutes. Top with fresh chives and serve.

Macaroni Cheese Croque Monsieur

Add a spoonful of macaroni cheese onto a slice of sourdough, top with ham and smother in mustard. Add the other slice of bread on top and finish with béchamel sauce and grated cheddar. Air fry on 200 for 5 minutes.

Mozzarella Stuffed Macaroni Cheese Balls

Make even sized macaroni cheese balls and add a small piece of mozzarella into the centre, freeze for 2-3 hours. It is easier to make these balls if the macaroni cheese is left out to cool so it becomes sticky. After freezing coat in egg, flour, then repeat then egg and then golden breadcrumbs. Add 1L of vegetable oil into a saucepan and heat on a high heat. Once hot, lower the macaroni balls into the saucepan and cook for 10-12 minutes until golden and crispy.