Macaroni and cheese

Mac’n’cheese is such an American thing. Italians laugh at it. Lol. Right? Well, Italians have their Cacio e pepe pasta which is basically cheese and black pepper. Sounds familiar? As a matter of fact, food snobbery is far more prevalent in other countries than the country of a dish’s origin. Sushi with mayo and other modern interpretations is so none-Japanese, isn’t it? Have you ever been to Japan? They have tons of mayo sauces covering various “cool” new sushi creations. Oh, back to Italy… pizza. They only eat Margherita over there, don’t they? Ever heard of paralizza? It’s pizza with potato fries on top. Popular among the youths of Italy. Stop being a snob. Let’s make some macaroni and cheese.

You need…

• 200g of macaroni
• 400g of water
• Salt
• 270g of cheddar cheese (or another strong cheese)
• 25g of olive oil (and another dash)
• 50g of butter
• 3tbsp of flour
• 50 g of milk
• 50 g of full full fat cream
• 3 tbsp of breadcrumbs
• A handful of parsley
• A twig of rosemary

How to prepare macaroni and cheese

1. Put your short pasta, preferably tiny macaroni or something close to that, into a saucepan and cover with water. Just a little salt, careful. You see, we’re not throwing out the water. You want all the starch to stay with the pasta so when the water is gone the pasta should be done. Cover. Boil. If it gets too dry before the pasta is done, add a little more water.
2. Olive oil and butter in a pan. Melt. Add a twig of rosemary to infuse into the fat. Piri piri and garlic powder. Yes, powder.
3. Add flour and milk and mix it thoroughly with a whisk until there are no lumps. Add the cream. The reason you’re not adding all liquids immediately is that it’s easier to get rid of the lumps with less liquid in the beginning and then adding more.
4. Remove the thyme.
5. Grate the cheese and add it, but leave about 15% of it for later. Combine until you have a thick cheese sauce.
6. Without draining the pasta, add it with all the gluten water that’s left. Should hardly be any.
7. You now have mac’n’cheese. But let’s take it one step further.
   
8. Combine the cheese you set aside, with breadcrumbs, a dash of olive oil and some chopped parsley.
   
9. Put the macaroni and cheese into little portion pots or whatever you have that’s is oven safe. Cover with cheese blend and into the oven it goes. High top heat. Just until it gets some color. Done.
10. You can eat it as is. But I find it too heavy, and figured something acidic and sweet would make a nice contrast.
    
11. Chop spring onion, fry in vegetable oil, add a spoon of honey, a pinch of salt, a couple of dashes of balsamic vinegar, and stir. Sweet and sour. Works great with the macaroni and cheese. Really.