Well my savoury dish went down a storm for dinner last night. I made this Macaroni Cheese Crumble as a celebration of “Thanksgiving”. Instead of serving it as a side dish, as they seem to do in the USA, I made mine the main course. As I said yesterday I didn’t have any macaroni to use so I improvised and made the dish using fusilli.
When I make a sauce using this method:
- it saves on the washing up.
- it can be adjusted whilst the sauce is on the pasta.
- it is a lazy method. hehehe!
Macaroni Cheese Crumble Recipe.
Course: Dinner, RecipesCuisine: savoury, dinnerDifficulty: Easy2
servings15
minutes20
minutes731
kcal35
minutesAny pasta can be used in this recipe. As you can see I have used fusilli.
Ingredients
4oz pasta (any pasta works)
For the sauce:
1tbsp flour
1tbsp soft spread
1tsp mustard powder
0.5tsp smoked paprika
150ml milk
100g cheddar cheese
For the crumble:
2oz porridge oats
1oz parmesan cheese
2oz cheddar cheese
Directions
- In a pan cook the pasta in a pan of boiling water till it is almost done. (still al dente is best)
- Remove from the heat.
- Drain the pasta and leave in the pan.
- Add the soft spread followed by the flour, mustard powder, smoked paprika and mix well.
- Add the milk and return to the heat to help to cook the flour out.
- Remove from the heat before adding the cheese. (I chop the cheese rather than grating it).
- Stir to incorporate the cheese.
- Transfer to a serving dish.
- For the crumble, mix the oats and cheeses together and sprinkle onto the top of the pasta and sauce.
- Bake in the oven at Gas 6 for 20 minutes till the top is golden brown and bubbling hot.
- Serve with salad and garlic bread.
Notes
- Nutritionally, one portion contains 731 calories, 38.7g total fat (50% daily total fat), 59.4g total carbohydrate (22% daily total carbohydrate), 3.4g fibre (12% daily fibre) (based on a 2000 calorie diet).
As you can see, I use mustard powder and smoked paprika in this recipe. Be careful with the mustard powder as this is an allergen for some people. I use these spices as they enhance the cheese flavour but you can omit or add whatever spices you prefer. Cook the pasta till it is “al dente” as when you make the sauce in the pasta an overcooked pasta turns to mush. A pasta dish looks better if the pasta holds it shape. I use this method for many recipes including my Broccoli and Cauliflower Cheese, Mushrooms in a Garlic Sauce to name but a few.
I will look into how to change this recipe to make it dairy and gluten free. Also, I imagine the nutritional content of this bake will have a high carbohydrate content and plenty of calories. I will have to check this out later, as I am off to finish proof reading my recipe book “All Things Christmasy” just in time for Christmas. 🙂