Easy peasy macaroni cheesy...

[Mum2Fergus]

Your recommended recipes please?!

Personally, I make a basic Roux sauce, shove shed loads of cheese in it, pour over cooked macaroni, sprinkle cheese (plus breadcrumbs sometimes) over the top and shove under the grill.

But I was taught old fashioned cookery at school and learnt how to make a roux sauce!

Cheese sauce, macaroni and I like to put some crispy Bacon bits in too.

I cheat, boil pasta in pot, melt a little butter in another pot, add cheese and melt it, when pasta is cooked drain it then stir in melted cheese, serve!

Make a roux, add spoon of whole grain mustard and some pepper, and lots of cheese.

In a pan fry some leeks. In another pan boil pasta.

Combine all and then grate more cheese and breadcrumbs over the top.

And Hugh FW has a lovely macaroni peas recipe in the veg every day book.

Thank you all!! So...your best easy peasy roux recipe too please lol sorry, novice here

I boil the pasta, drain and add loads of grated cheese. Put in oven proof dish, sprinkle on a little paprika and grill until the top starts to go crisp. No faffing about with sauce. Its fab and would be my last meal if I had to choose.

This Nigella one is really quick and easy:
www.nigella.com/recipes/view/macaroni-cheese-69

Or I make a cheese sauce in the microwave (use same proportions of flour, milk and butter as for normal white sauce, chuck all in a jug, micro for 1m, stir, repeat until it thickens, add cheese, mustard, s&p, nutmeg etc to taste) and pour over cooked macaroni.

www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/cheesesauce_1299

I grate some nutmeg in as well

Love the simplicity of Nigellas...but evaporated milk?!

Roux sauce - melt a large blob of butter in a pan (a couple of walnuts sizewise) then stir in a couple of tablespoons of plain flour. Keep stirring until the flour has soaked up all the butter and there are no dry/white bits.

Start adding in milk, a slosh at a time. Stir until the milk is absorbed into the flour. Keep adding milk gradually until you start to get a white sauce. When sauce is about the right consistency (maybe very slightly on the runny side as the cheese will tighten it up a bit) bung in your grated cheese and some seasoning. Stir some more.

Perfect for macaroni cheese, lasagne, cauliflower cheese etc.

Jamie's 30 min meal recipe is super, had that yesterday. No roux requied!

Boil macaroni together with cauliflower 10 mins. Mix with cheese, creme fraiche, garlic (I add tomatoes sometimes) in oven dish. Sprinkle breadcrumbs on top, in oven until done golden brown. Jamie recipe puts bacon sprinkles on top too but I prefer to eat with bacon/sausages on the side.

Oh forgot to say, use pasta water to make sauce right consistency

Chuck some butter in a pan to melt (about a heaped tablespoon). Take off heat.

Slowly add flour (plain or SR) stirring each bit in until smooth before adding more. Stop once you have a stiff ball of paste.

Slowly add milk, a tiny splash at a time, and stir in until smooth. VERY important, only add more once the previous amount is completely blended in, or you will get lumps. Just add a half pint in total, you can always thin it down with extra milk later. Season with black pepper.

Put back on heat and stir stir stir constantly, moving the sauce all the time and making sure none sticks. Bring to a gentle boil. If you don't boil it it will taste floury. Once it's cooked it goes glossy and thick. Then take off the heat and add a vast amount of really strong cheddar and warm gently to melt. You can thin with extra milk now.

Add cooked drained macaroni (Marshall's, there's no point having macaroni if you don't have Marshall's) and then top with sliced tomato and extra cheese before baking. Yummmmmmmm.

My mum used to make 'macaroni cheese with the bits in' - bits of fried bacon, sliced mushrooms, onions, sweetcorn & whatever else was around added to the cheese sauce. Slices of tomato +/- cheese & breadcrumbs on top.

I've stopped using a roux (which I wasn't taught at school but managed to learn all the same) and now follow a Jamie Oliver recipe (but different to the one milkjetmum mentions above).

Whilst the macaroni is cooking, fry off some oregano in butter and add grated hard cheese. Use pasta water to thin the sauce if necessary. Add mascarpone and pasta to the frying pan and stir. Tip in to an oven dish, top with nutmeg and mozzarella, finish in oven for about 10 minutes.

Instead of making a roux, you could melt grated cheese into creme fraiche or cream, add lots of pepper and mix