Food and Cooking

Macaroni cheese with leeks – Recipe

This easy four-step recipe for macaroni cheese will please all the family. Get a little extra vegetables into your mac and cheese with sweet leeks tucked in the cheese sauce and peas alongside.

Ingredients
300g/10½oz dried macaroni
2 leeks
45g/1½oz butter
45g/1½oz flour
600ml/1 pint milk
1 tsp mustard
dash Worcestershire sauce
200g/7oz cheddar, grated
60g/2¼oz breadcrumbs
250g/9oz frozen peas, to serve
salt and freshly ground black pepper

Macaroni cheese with leeks

Method
Preheat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add the macaroni. Cook for 5 minutes then drain.

Meanwhile trim the leeks, discarding the green parts, then thinly slice. Melt the butter in a large saucepan, add the leeks and cook gently for 5 minutes, or until soft. Add the flour and cook for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the milk little by little, stirring constantly, then cook gently for 5 minutes, stirring all the time until the sauce is thickened. Add the mustard and Worcestershire sauce then remove from the heat. Stir in the grated cheese and season with salt and pepper.

Add the pasta to the sauce, stir to combine then pour into a 2 litre/3½ pint ovenproof dish. Sprinkle over the breadcrumbs and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

Towards the end of cooking, bring a pot of water to the boil. Add the peas, cook for 3-4 minutes then drain. Serve the macaroni cheese with the peas.

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Source: BBC FOODS