Smoked Cheddar Mac and Cheese
This recipe has been created in partnership with Quickes’s Cheese, one of the UK’s best loved clothbound cheddar producers! You can get 10% off your first order with the code MARTHA10.
Is there a comfort food any better than mac & cheese? I’ll wait. Deeply cheesy, creamy pasta is exactly what I crave after a long day, and believe me, this January seems to have been filled with some of the longest days I’ve known! I think we all deserve a bit of indulgence, which is exactly what this recipe will deliver!
The hero ingredient of any mac & cheese is, of course, the cheese. The whole dish hinges on the quality and flavour of your cheddar, so be sure to choose a flavourful one! My favourite cheddar is Quicke’s cheddar, produced at a farm that dates back to the 1500’s (!!) just a few villages away from where my parents live in Devon. I was overjoyed when they commissioned some recipes using their delicious cheese, as I’ve been a fan for a long time. I visited the farm back in October and the experience of farm to fork, each process carried out with such care, was truly inspiring. Happy cows make great tasting cheese!
Back to the recipe in question, the mac & cheese. As I mentioned, good quality cheese is a must, which means proper smoked cheddar (not any of the chemically smoked plasticky stuff!). Quicke’s cheddar is oak smoked, which means it has a deep, smokey tang but no bitter, acrid flavours. It works brilliantly with the sweetness of the milk and complimenting flavours of mustard and paprika.
The second is the cooking process. SO many recipes for mac & cheese call for it to be baked once everything is mixed together, which often means it loses the sauciness (and what is a macaroni cheese without a proper thick sauce?!). A few minutes under a hot grill is all it needs to create a crispy top but to keep the cheese underneath molton. Hungry now?
One final note on pasta: you can use whatever pasta you’ve got to hand, just be sure to choose something with a cavity to hold all that delicious sauce! I’ve chosen rigatoni as I love the way the silken sauce clings to the ridges.
Smoked Cheddar Mac & Cheese
Serves 6-8
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 5 minutes
Ingredients:
500g macaroni or rigatoni pasta
50g butter
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp Dijon mustard
450ml milk
2 tbsp plain flour
200g Quicke’s Mature Cheddar, grated
100g Quicke’s Oak Smoked Cheddar, grated
50g breadcrumbs (optional)
Method:
Bring a large saucepan or casserole dish of salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook until al-dente, following the packet instructions.
Meanwhile, melt the butter in a medium saucepan and add the flour, paprika and mustard to make a roux. Whisk into the butter and cook the paste for 1-2 minutes to prevent a floury taste.
Add the milk a little at a time, whisking after each addition, until you have a thick, smooth sauce. Finally, stir in ¾ of the grated cheese (reserve the rest for the top!) and whisk until melted.
Drain the pasta once it is cooked, then stir in the cheese sauce. Pour into an ovenproof dish (I use the casserole dish I use to cook the pasta) and sprinkle with the remaining cheese and the breadcrumbs. Grill on high for 5 minutes or until the top is nicely browned – keep a close eye on it so it doesn’t burn! Serve immediately with crisp, green salad.
