I really fancy a hearty Mac & cheese

[gonkk]

Hit me up with your best recipes with best secret ingredients. I make M&C maybe 3 times a year and this time I'm after a really cheesy, calorie heaven one.

Please send your go to recipes!

I made an amazing one on Sunday with chorizo, jalapeños and tomato.

We like this no fancy additions but always cleared plates.

A little bit of mustard makes it all more savoury and cheesy, something crunchy on top finishes it off breadcrumbs, sunflower seeds, broken up walnuts, whatever you fancy.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/macaroni-cheese-marmite

this is incredible

When making the cheese sauce, add some English mustard powder and some freshly grated nutmeg. Stir a teaspoon full of horseradish into the finished sauce for extra bite & zip!
Stir diced cooked bacon or chopped up leftover sausages or a couple of cloves of crushed garlic into the pasta before adding the cheese sauce.

I'm going to go with this one, thank you! I love nutmeg never thought of adding it.

I will definitely try the marmite one too. Thanks all, will post a pic in about an hour!

I can never get it quite right, I like it plain and simple so for us when we do have it it's M&S
all the way.

You need this www.recipetineats.com/baked-mac-and-cheese/

It has mozzarella in it (as well as other stronger cheese) which makes it amazingly gooey.

Done the nutmeg / mustard recipe and it's SO good!

I've just done a 55 night stint in hospital and I was pretty over the hospital food so I've been looking forward to this.

Highly recommend adding some nutmeg and mustard!

What's everybody having for dinner this evening? Send pics! I love food talk 😂

That looks to be a fab lunch @gonkk !!
For added interest to your cheese sauce, another time if you use a couple of different types of cheese in the sauce it will give you more depth of flavour.
You could also add a very light dusting of smoked paprika or Cayenne pepper when you serve it, for a touch of colour, but go easy with it till you know if you like it. The Cayenne especially can be very fiery.
All the above goes for cauliflower cheese too of course.

Oooh that looks good! I never thought of adding horseradish- will def try that one soon!
Hope you're ok- you deserve that Mac and cheese!

Bit late to the party, but this one from Nadiya Hussain with Wotsits crumbled in is lovely - www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/mac_and_cheesy_81730

Lorraine pascal does a ‘glam mac and cheese’ with dolcelatte and spring onion and it’s amazing. Proper comfort food!

Jamie Oliver has one that’s got like a whole block of tagellio, whole block of Parmesan and an entire mozzarella in it. It’s not good for you but it is divine

M&S do a luxury one I’ve got on my list to try and replicate. Pretty sure it’s calorie heavy.

Omg I love this one

As a treat sometimes I buy the Stamford street ones from sainsburys they're only 90p. I microwave them first then transfer them into an oven proof bowl mix with ground black pepper and a good handful of grated Red Leicester. Then put a bit more Red Leicester on top and bake on high til it's golden

I know it's absolute junk food but it's amazing 🤩

I'm dying to try this or I might recreate it 😬

www.iceland.co.uk/p/cathedral-city-mac-n-cheese-with-pigs-in-blankets-400g/91054.html

Growing up, our macaroni cheese always had quartered boiled eggs and bacon in it. Yes to a bit of mustard in the cheese sauce.

The eggs can be a bit tricky because you don't want them overcooked and rubbery, but really delicious if you get it right (same principle as eggs in fish pie I guess).

Nigella's with crab

The key to this is the cheese sauce.

Dont bother mucking about with a roux if you want something unctuous and silky and full of flavour

You get single cream, you get grated cheese of a number of flavours if you wish, nice and strong, nice and deep, you then warm the cream in a pan, add in the grated cheese slowly, stir stir stir, the cheese should melt into the cream without lumps because of the way fat melts together. Add a bit of milk if its too thick. Add white pepper (much better flavour), english mustard, bit of nutmeg if you are so inclined. Nice and powerful

Ive used this with a number of different types of cheese, my best combination was a bit of mild blue, gouda or edam (need to be careful with that due to the poor melting ability), strong cheddar and then ricotta (can get a bit grainy so get a smooth one).

Others have involved a lot of pecorino, and I mean a lot

I havent had it for years due to dieting etc. Its amazing though

You can then add whatever other flavours to the actual macaroni like others have said above, personally I like it nice and simple