Three cheese mac and cheese

Credit and permission to share: Pasta Garofalo

Mac and cheese seems to be a quite recent (and extremely popular), or an American import to me.  I remember we made pasta in cheese sauce with variations at work but it was never as cool as ‘Mac and Cheese’.  Mam made pasta shells in cheese sauce which is basically Mac & Cheese but for some reason calling it Mac & Cheese pimps it up and everyone listens.  She would also laugh that adding ‘3 cheese made it posh’.    

Anyway, it gives me immense pleasure to share this recipe from a wickedly cool brand I can’t wait to tell Tamara about (she will tell me I should have asked for her recipe instead) but we already have two which is my feeble defence. 

I love Italy, I have not been anywhere near as much as I should and have promised to go more. 

You will need:

An elevated macaroni and cheese using high quality ingredients. Pure simplicity and no oven needed!

Preparation Time 15 minutes

Portions 4-5

Difficulty Low

Ingredients

• 400g Garofalo Macaroni

• 200g Carron Lodge Dambuster Vintage Cheddar, coarsely grated

• 200g Carron Lodge Buffalo Cheddar, coarsely grated

• 100g Carron Lodge Parmesan, finely grated

• 70ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil

• 100g Rindless bacon cut into lardons

• 2 Garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 120ml Dry white wine

• 2 tsp Dijon mustard

• 2 tsp Fresh thyme, plus extra to serve

• 600ml Pouring cream

• 100g Crème fraiche

• 1 tsp Smoked paprika

• 80g Coarse breadcrumbs

• Finely grated rind of ½ lemon, plus extra to serve

Preparation

 - Cook pasta in a large saucepan of well-salted boiling water for 7 minutes, until not quite al dente. Drain, reserving 2 tbsp cooking water, and return both to pan.

 - Mix breadcrumbs, lemon rind, 40ml of olive oil and half the Carron Lodge parmesan in a bowl and season. Add the mix to a small pan and fry until golden brown. Set aside once cooked.

 - While the pasta cooks, heat the rest of the oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat, add bacon strips and fry until crisp.

 - Add garlic, stir until fragrant, then add wine and simmer until reduced by half

 - Stir in mustard and thyme, then add mixture to pasta and stir to combine.

 - Add cream, Carron Lodge Dambuster and Buffalo cheddar, crème fraîche, paprika and the remaining parmesan, season, mix well, then transfer back to the stove top and cook over medium heat until the cheese is melted through.

 - Scatter the breadcrumbs, any extra thyme and lemon rind over the pasta, serve hot.