Mac ‘N’ Cheese

Mac ‘N’ Cheese

Ready in 35 minutes Serves 4-5
This dish most recently appeared in My Family (5 Nights For 4) on Sunday, May 27, 2018.

Sprinkle of chilli flakes would go down a treat to spice up the adult’s meals.


Ingredients

Mac ‘N’ Cheese

  • 2 cups pasta elbows
  • 1 brown onion
  • 1 courgette
  • ½ bag baby spinach
  • 1 tomato
  • ¾ cup frozen peas
  • ¾ tsp salt

Sauce

  • 4 Tbsp butter
  • 4 Tbsp flour
  • 3 cups milk
  • 1-2 tsp wholegrain mustard
  • ¾ tsp salt
  • 1¼ cups grated cheese

Crumb

  • 1 Tbsp butter
  • ½ cup panko breadcrumbs
  • ½ Tbsp paprika herb mix

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Cook pasta in boiling water for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally, until just tender. Drain and run under cold water to cool slightly. Toss with a little olive oil so it doesn’t stick together
  2. Finely dice onion; grate courgette; roughly chop spinach and dice tomato 1cm.
  3. Heat a drizzle of oil in a large fry-pan on medium heat. Cook onion for about 3 minutes, until tender. Add grated courgette, peas and salt and cook a further 2 minutes until veggies are bright green and tender. Remove from heat and stir through spinach and tomato. Set aside.
  4. Melt first measure of butter in a medium pot on lowmedium heat. Stir in flour and continue cooking for 2-3 minutes, until caramel in colour. Gradually whisk in milk, stirring constantly. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 2-3 minutes, until thickened, stirring frequently. Add mustard, salt and season with pepper.
  5. Combine pasta with veggies, sauce and grated cheese and pour into a large baking dish (approximately 23cm x 23 cm). In a small bowl, melt second measure of butter, mix with breadcrumbs and paprika herb mix. Sprinkle over pasta and bake for 5 minutes, turn grill to high and grill for about 2 minutes, until crust is golden.
  6. To serve, divide mac ‘n’ cheese between plates.

Nutritional Information

Energy 2278 kj
544 kcal
Protein 22.4g
Carbohydrate 49.0g
Fat 30.6g