Jadey's Perfect Mac & Cheeseinspired by a Martha Stewart recipe with some personal changes and converted to Thermomix
Number of People: 8 - 12 adults
Ingredients:200g Gruyere cubed (can substitute 140g of Pecorino Romano)
500g sharp bitey cheddar cubed
210g butter cubed (120g softened)
6 slices quality white bread - crusts removed and torn into 2-3cm pieces
1.350g Milk
130g plain flour
10g salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or to taste)
500g macaroni (dry uncooked weight)
Water & salt for cooking macaroni
Preparation:1) Preheat oven fan forced 190C
2) Prepare a 3L casserole dish by greasing with butter - set aside
3)Add Gruyere to bowl and grate 1min/sp9 set aside
4) Add cheddar to bowl, grate 1min/sp9 set aside
5) Add 90g butter to bowl reserving the rest for later. Melt 1min 30sec/50C/sp4
Push down with spatula and melt 30sec/50C/sp2 or until fully melted.
6) On reverse/sp slow add torn bread pieces until butter is fully absorbed by bread (approx 30sec)
Set aside until later
7) Add butterfly to bowl.
Add remaining (120g) softened butter to bowl with milk, plain flour, salt, pepper, nutmeg & cayenne pepper.
Cook reverse/14min/sp4
Or until béchamel has thickened and bubbled.
(Please let me know your cooking time as this is where I was playing with times & ingredients to get it to all work properly)
Pour into a large mixing bowl and stir in 3 cups of cheddar and 1.5 cups of Gruyere (1 cup of Pecorino if using) and set aside
9) Hot clean TMX bowl immediately
10) Cook macaroni according to EDC instructions finishing 3min earlier than manufacturer recommendations
11)) Drain macaroni and wash with cold water. Drain thoroughly and mix into cheese sauce
12) Pour Macaroni and Cheese mixture into prepared casserole dish
13) Top with remaining cheese and butter soaked bread pieces
14)Place in oven until top is Golden (approx 30 mins)
15) Remove, serve & enjoy!
Photos:
Tips/Hints:Recipe can be halved
This is an unbelievably tasty Mac & cheese thanks to the quality of the cheeses and I think the cayenne which adds a subtle bonus.
While not at all necessary, you could add bacon or chicken to this dish (I'd recommend halving the recipe and pre cooking the meat if you do) this will stretch it even further and obviously add a protein element.
I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
members' commentsMandymaz - I just made this, it's in the oven as I type. The taste test bodes well. I used mature cheddar and parmesan. Also halved the recipe. I "cooked" the pasta in the thermoserve with boiling water, lid on, while making the rest of it. (as suggested by Halex in her macaroni cheese recipe)
Bootobethin - Thanks for this recipe, it is delicious.
