Praising the “simple” combination of ingredients, Nigella Lawson’s macaroni cheese recipe may shock you as it contains one unusual food addition.
The iconic cook said the way the ingredients fuse together in the heat is what makes this homemade recipe taste so good.
“I do rather love the way these little macaroni cheeses look like they’ve been made with artificially coloured, cheap squeezy cheese or out of a box,” said Nigella.
“When, in fact, their exotic glow comes courtesy of the earthy goodness of a sweet potato.” Revealing the humble sweet potato to be the unusual ingredient, here’s how to recreate Nigella’s version of macaroni cheese.
Sweet potato macaroni cheese
Serves: four people
Ingredients
- 500g sweet potatoes
- 300g pennette (or other small, short pasta)
- Four tablespoons of soft unsalted butter
- Three tablespoons plain flour
- 500ml full-fat milk
- One teaspoon English mustard
- Quarter teaspoon paprika (plus another quarter teaspoon to sprinkle on top)
- 75g feta cheese
- 125g mature cheddar (plus 25g to sprinkle on top)
- Four fresh sage leaves
- Sea salt flakes (to taste)
- Pepper (to taste)
Method
Preheat the oven to 200C (180C fan/gas mark six/400F). Put on a large pan of water to boil, with the lid on to make it come to the boil faster.
Peel the sweet potatoes and cut them roughly into one-inch pieces. When the water’s boiling, add salt to taste, and then the sweet potato pieces, and cook for about 10 minutes.
Scoop softened sweet potatoes out of the water into a bowl and lightly mash with a fork. “Don’t get rid of this water, as you will need it to cook your pasta in later,” Nigella instructed.
In another saucepan, gently melt the butter and add the flour, whisking to form a roux, then take the pan off the heat, slowly whisk in the milk and, once combined and smooth, put back on the heat.
Now stir with a wooden spoon until the bubbling sauce has thickened. Add the mustard and the quarter teaspoon of paprika. Season to taste.
Cook the pennette in the sweet-potato water. Drain (reserving some of the pasta cooking water) and then add the pennette to the mashed sweet potato, and fold in to combine.
Add the feta cheese to the sweet potato and pasta mixture, then fold in the white sauce, adding the 125g cups grated Cheddar as you go. Add some of the pasta cooking water.
Spoon the macaroni cheese into an ovenproof dish. Sprinkle the remaining Cheddar and the remaining quarter teaspoon of paprika, then added shredded sage leaves. Pop into the oven and bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
