Macaroni cheese. My mum used to make it when me and my brother were young; with tomatoes and bacon, and served with toast cut diagonally. Double carbs? Yes please. Yet as an adult, for some unknown reason, it wasn’t something I made very often at all.
Until one evening last year I went to a friend’s house with a few of my colleagues. She and her boyfriend served up a macaroni cheese dish that had us all shouting and/or mumbling variations of “THIS IS THE BEST MAC AND CHEESE IVE EVER HAD IN MY LIFE” and “I NEED THIS RECIPE NOW” in between mouthfuls of cheese dripping pasta and swigs of homemade mojitos. And garlic bread was the side dish.
The holy grail recipe didn’t actually exist as apparently it was a ‘do what feels right at the time’ kinda method, but two secrets I took away with me were chorizo and extra extra cheese.
I’m a believer that chorizo makes most things in life taste better so I didn’t need convincing on this, or the advice to ‘just keep adding cheese’.
In the weeks after that historic night, I kept thinking about and craving that mac n cheese. So I did a bit of research (including getting my mum to take a photo of her old cookbook recipe and whatsapp it to me), and came up with my own version.
I was a bit nervous about presenting this to my boyfriend to try, as he is generally furiously against any white or cheesy sauces. I think the spicy, smoky, rich chorizo flavour of this dish alongside the shallots and garlic counterbalanced any aversions and it got the nod of approval. It even resulted in him instigating a couple of ‘shall we have mac and cheese’ tonight convos. All hail the cheese.
Serves 4 (but it’s even better for 2, giving you leftovers for the next day)
You’ll need:
Olive oil
3 shallots, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
115g chorizo (approx half a 225g chorizo ring) sliced into ½ inch pieces and then cut each slice in quarters
400ml milk
1 tablespoon plain flour
30g butter
110g cheddar cheese, grated
40g Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
Splash of worcestershire sauce
2-3 gratings nutmeg
2 bay leaves
275g macaroni
225g plum tomatoes
Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees c / 350 degrees f
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saucepan and fry the shallots for a couple of minutes. Add the garlic and chorizo and fry over a low heat for a few minutes until the shallots are softened and the chorizo has emanated its intense colour and flavour.
In the same pan (you want to keep all that delicious chorizo flavour!), heat the butter until melted and then stir in the flour to produce a paste.
Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly so that you get rid of any lumps.
Add the bay leaves.
Bring the mixture to a boil, turn the heat down to low and leave to simmer, stirring occasionally.
Prick the tomatoes with a sharp knife and place in a roasting tray. Drizzle over a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Put the tomatoes in the oven to roast for 15 mins. Remove from the oven and cut into quarters.
Bring a saucepan of salted water to the boil, drop in your macaroni and cook to packet instructions (approx 10 mins).
Drain the macaroni and add to your sauce. Remove the pan from the heat, then add:
• the chorizo mixture
• approx three quarters of the grated cheeses
• the chopped roasted tomatoes.
Remove the bay leaves.
Season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep in mind the chorizo will be salty so you probably won’t need to add much, if any, salt.
Pour the mixture into a casserole dish and sprinkle over the remaining cheese.
Bake in the oven for 40 mins until bubbling and lightly browned on top.
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