Macaroni cheese recipe - is this correct?

[Hermano]

I recently bought a fancy microwave, I've only had basic ones before. This is a combination one.

I decided to make some macaroni cheese in it, to try it the recipe, see if it is any easier etc then normal hob cooking. I wanted it to be easy because I'm worn out after a busy day and am watching TV while I tidy the kitchen and cook.

I make macaroni cheese every couple of weeks, easy batch cook and fussy child friendly. I never follow a recipe, I do it by eye and its normally fine. A lot of tasting along the way and generous cheese amounts mean it can't go far wrong. I sometimes add bacon or peas or leeks but normally it's the basic version.

This is the recipe provided for 4 people. Surely there is a mistake?
175g pasta, for 4 adults? Way too low
175g butter?? With 40g flour? What sort of sauce will that make?
Also 100g bacon, 150g cheese, and 600ml milk, and flavourings.

So by weight this macaroni cheese has approx 1/8th of its ingredients as pasta, the same amount again butter, same again (almost) cheese. It'll be 5 pieces of pasta swimming in a pot of fondue!

Mistake surely?

I'm doubling the pasta,using100g butter, will flour and milk by eye and cheese by taste.

Have I been doing wrong all these years? I'm no diet low fat cook but this can't be right surely?

Waiting for voices to tell me they make it like this ànd I haven't lived until I try it...

That does seem odd..

When I make a cheese sauce use a big spoon of butter and however much flour is needed to take it up, usually a 1:2 ratio.

Sound too much butter/ not enough flour, and not enough pasta (I’d go 280g). Cheese sounds good though! Let us know if it works!

I’ve never done a microwave version but the quantities do seem odd.

I use a 500g pack of pasta, about a pint of milk, a lump of buttercmade into a roux with cornflour - about 75g at a guess, a spoon of mustard powder or Dijon, a grating of nutmeg, lots of black pepper, whatever cheese is in the fridge plus Parmesan.
Streaky bacon grilled until crispy and broken into pieces to stir through. Topped with breadcrumbs and cheese mixed together.

It'll be 5 pieces of pasta swimming in a pot of fondue

You are correct.
It sounds very Masterchef ie full of butter. It could be delicious though...
I dont think pasta cooks well in the microwave even if it is combi, it is great for reheating slightly undercooked frozen portions

I've never done microwave version, but that sounds wrong. So far wrong, I dont think its even worth trying.

Someone once told me 125g pasta per person is right. I do two handfuls each, one for a small child.

Sauce is I think roughly 50g butter and several heaped tbsp flour and a bit of mustard, salt and pepper. My amazing cook friend does it in a microwave very effectively, if you get a recipe that looks right!

Sorry now, but where I am Aldi have a spicy mac n cheese. Gorgeous and it's hoovered up. A few minutes in the MW. I know it's processed and bow my head in shame.

Cook from scratch most days but we don't like pizza or takeaways much, so this is ace with Garlic bread on a lazy weekend evening.

And cheese of course. Lots of cheese...

70g of pasta per person is the recommended portion size so that is a bit low.

Glad you all agree with me!
I used 350g macaroni, 120g butter, 80g flour, not sure how much milk but probably about double, so as the recipe but double except for the butter which I reduced.

Sauce is nice, a bit overly oily but tasty.
Quantity looks about right for lunch tmrw (me and DH trying to eat smaller portions, my dad who will eat for dinner for him until he bursts, plus DC 3 and 6. If kids are hungry we'll finish it, otherwise the will be a leftover portion for each of them.

Some sauce left in the pot! Sauce quantity was mad. Will add pics

Butter dish for scale

Depth - hardly huge

Over an inch of sauce left in a 12 inch diameter pyrex dish. Might get comfy on the sofa with that later.