“There’s masses of cheese and plenty of smoked bacon,” Rick Stein said of his Italian-inspired recipe.
The chef explained: “Someone I met in Palermo [Sicily in Italy] once told me that the secret of good Italian dishes is ‘esagera’ – put more of everything in – and so it is with this mac and cheese recipe.”
Taken from his Rick Stein’s Road To Mexico recipe book, the dish takes less than 30 minutes to prepare and just under an hour to be ready to eat.
Fairly simple to put together, there are only six steps involved in making the mac and cheese dish.
Here’s how to make Rick Stein’s mac and cheese recipe at home with hardly any effort.
Mac and cheese
- Serves: six to eight people
- Prep: less than 30 mins
- Cooks in: 30 mins to one hour
Ingredients
- 100g butter, plus extra for greasing
- 100g plain flour
- One tsp Dijon mustard
- 1.2 litres full-fat milk
- 75ml double cream
- One bay leaf
- 400g mature cheddar, grated
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- 500g dried macaroni
- 100g smoked bacon lardons or smoked pancetta cubes
- 60g white breadcrumbs
- 50g Parmesan, grated
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan/gas six) and grease a 35x20cm ovenproof dish.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan over a low heat. Stir in the plain flour and cook for one minute. Add the mustard, take the pan off the heat and gradually whisk in the milk and cream. Add the bay leaf.
Put the pan back over the heat, stirring constantly, until it boils and thickens. Take the pan off the heat again, remove the bay leaf and add the cheddar. Stir until the cheese has melted. Season with lots of black pepper and some nutmeg.
Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and stir in the macaroni. Cook for 10 minutes, or until al dente, drain well and add to the sauce.
Fry the bacon in a frying pan until crisp. Stir into the macaroni cheese and pour the mixture into the ovenproof dish.
Mix the breadcrumbs with the Parmesan and scatter over the top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until golden-brown and bubbling. Serve immediately.
