Bacon and leek macaroni cheese

Serves:

Ingredients

• 2 leeks
• 1 tbsn olive oil
• 6 bacon, diced
• 400g macaroni
• 50g butter
• 3 tbsn plain flour
• 400ml milk, heated
• 1 cup cheddar cheese, grated

Method

Cook macaroni until just cooked. Drain and set aside.

Preheat oven to 180C. Heat the oil in a frying pan on a moderate heat and add leeks. Stir them over the heat until they are soft and translucent. Remove to a bowl and set aside.

Fry the bacon until crisp, remove to a bowl and set aside.

To make the cheese sauce, in a small saucepan, melt the butter then add the flour. Stir through for three mins until the flour is completely combined. Slowly add the hot milk to the flour and butter mixture while stirring vigorously to avoid the sauce becoming lumpy. Once all the milk has been added, continue stirring until the sauce is thickened. Take off the heat and add 2/3 of the grated cheese and stir through.

In an ovenproof dish, combine the macaroni, the cheese sauce, the leeks and the bacon. Scatter the remaining cheese across the dish and bake in the oven for 25 mins or until golden brown.

Notes

• This is the perfect comfort dinner for the family  and it does not hurt that it‰s great on the budget either!
• You could add other vegetables to the macaroni cheese too… peas, corn and diced red peppers are all terrific.
• Serve with a fresh green salad for a complete meal.
• This recipe was created by Ella Walsh for Kidspot, New Zealand’s best recipe finder.

Serving Suggestions

Note