A recipe for a delicious, filling macaroni dish. A dish that not only tastes good, but also looks good! Packets and bags often contain many E-numbers, so now a recipe with a cheese sauce without packs and bags!
The ingredients you need are groceries that you often already have at home, so often not expensive! The recipe is for four people, but is easy to divide if you are eating with more or less people. This dish is also easy to freeze / heat.
The ingredients
- Flour (about two tablespoons)
- Liquid butter (two tablespoons)
- A cube of vegetable stock
- Milk (400 milliliters)
- Grated cheese (about 200 grams)
- Breadcrumbs (if you don’t have this at home, you can also crumble two rusks)
- 400 grams of macaroni
- Pepper and nutmeg
- Possibly vegetables (see variation tips at the bottom of the recipe)
You can choose what grated cheese you choose, if you prefer a salty dish, it is best to choose older cheese, while young cheese is suitable for a mild taste. You can also choose between white and whole wheat macaroni, it is recommended to choose a whole wheat pasta, which is more filling, but contains fewer calories.
Preparation method
- Put a generous amount of water in a saucepan and put it on the gas, when it boils you can add the macaroni and set a kitchen timer. It differs per type of macaroni how long it has to cook, you can find this on the packaging. Drain after cooking and keep in the pan for a while.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
- In the meantime, make the beurre manié, part of the cheese sauce. You do this by combining the two tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of (level) flour. It can get a bit lumpy, then add some extra butter until it has become a nice paste, this is the beurre manié.
- Put the milk in a small saucepan, add the stock cube and add pepper and nutmeg to taste. Salt is not necessary, the cheese makes the whole thing salty. Do not bring the net to the boil and add the beurre manié to it.
- Let this thin sauce thicken on a low heat for 5 minutes. Then add the half of the bag of cheese. Leave the sauce on the fire for a while until the cheese has melted and you have a nice, thick sauce.
- Grease the oven dish and mix the macaroni with the cheese sauce in it. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top and cover it again with a layer of breadcrumbs. If you wish, add a few more drops of butter to the breadcrumbs.
- Place the dish in the preheated oven and heat it until the cheese has melted and there is a nice golden brown layer on the dish.
Variation tips:
This dish is very filling in itself, yet many variations are possible by adding different vegetables or meat:
- If you want to add meat to this recipe, choose ground beef, bacon cubes or strips or a can of smac. Assume about 75 to 100 grams per person.
- There are many options for adding vegetables, such as onion, bell pepper, leek, mushrooms, courgette, etc., etc. It is also possible to opt for a vegetable package.
