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5 Comments Don’t we all love a delicious Mac and Cheese? It’s rich, it’s creamy and just plain delicious. In this easy version of mac & cheese I added some peas as well. Just to make it a bit healthier.
Mac & Cheese recipe
Back when I was a kid my mum made a macaroni dish every single friday. Friday’s were pasta days. Now if you know me a little bit you might have heard me complain that my mum was a terrible cook. And that is so very true. Her imagination stopped at mixing macaroni with ham cubes and cheese. That was it.
But still macaroni days were my favorite days, so when I started living on my own, I quickly started testing all sorts of delicious pasta dishes. Lasagna of course, but also one pot pasta dishes, aglio e olio or a good carbonara. But there is nothing that is as creamy as a mac & cheesel
The basis of a good mac & cheese
The basis of a good mac and cheese lies in the sauce. In essence the sauce is a bechamel sauce and you add lots of flavor to it. Mostly cheese of course and in this case I opted for adding a bit of blue cheese and a strong aged cheddar. I love the cheese to be a bit more pungent. You can add whateer kind of cheese you like really.
If you’re not into strong cheese but just want the melty part of the cheese use a younger cheese. The blue cheese is also quite optional. I love a good cheese and my pasta gorgonzola is an absolute favorite. I also added some peas. Just because I want to have some vegetables in all my food really! So peas it is.
Crunchy topping
In addition I added a crunchy topping of hazelnuts and panko. Just mix those with a bit of melted butter and it will crisp up beautifully in the oven giving you a mac and cheese with a crispy topping. Just so so good!
Mac and Cheese
Ingredients
- 200 gr pasta of your choice
- 100 gr green peas
Bechamel sauce
- 400 ml milk
- 2-3 tbsp flour
- 45 gram butter
- 1/2 tsp ground chili
- 1/2 tsp fresh thyme chopped
- 100 gr grated cheese Choose mature cheese for best flavor
- 25 gr blue cheese I used Danish blue
- 25 gram hazelnuts chopped
- 20 gram butter melted
- 2 tbsp panko
- pepper
- salt
How to make mac & cheese
- Preheat the oven to 200˚ C (400˚F) and cook the pasta according to package instructions
- Make a cheese sauce by melting the 45 grams of butter into a small saucepan and add the flour to it and keep stirring. Bake it for a little bit so the flour is cooked properly.
- Add the milk little by little and keep stirring in between so the milk gets incorporated well. You will end up with a thick sauce and you might need a little less milk or a little more milk. Just keep an eye on things and if you think it has the right consistency stop adding milk. It will be a bit like yogurt in thickness.
- Remove from the heat and add the chili, the grated cheese, the blue cheese (crumbled), the peas and the fresh thyme.
- In a separate bowl put the panko together with the 20 grams of melted butter and the chopped hazelnuts and mix it together.
- Add the cheese sauce to the drained pasta and stir until it is mixed well. Put into a oven dish and top with your panko mixture.
- Bake in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until golden
Nutrition Information per portion:
Disclaimer:
The nutritional values above are calculated per portion. The details are based on standard nutritional tables and do not constitute a professional nutritional advice.
Wow that is some flavorful combo of ingredients and you are making me rethink my own mac and cheese. I love the ground chili and we usually now add that too to cheese dishes but I love the hazelnuts and the bleu cheese! And the peas! Okay I have to make a version of this this week!
Lol.. Yes I think the chili and the blue cheese really make a difference. I love chili!
This dish is the ultimate comfort food, and it sounds like you’ve made an awesome variation!
Thanks so much Beth!
Perfect! Comfort food at its best. I love that addition of hazelnuts.
Cheers,
Rosa