Roasted Garlic One Pan Macaroni Cheese

As I mentioned last week, I’ve shunned diet January in favour of comfort and using up leftovers. As always with Christmas, that included a bit of a cheese mountain. In need a winter warmer recipe on these grey days and inspired by this idea that’s all over Pinterest at the moment, I set about making a pimped up version of this super easy mac ‘n’ cheese.

Prepare yourself. This is definitely not one for the detox. Once in a while’s ok though right?

Roasted Garlic One Pan Macaroni Cheese

1 Large head of garlic
Splash of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
100g Pancetta or smoked streaky bacon cut into small pieces
500g Pasta (I used Fusilli)
900ml Semi-skimmed milk
1 Teaspoon English Mustard
200g Mature cheddar (or a mixture of whatever strong flavoured, left over cheese you have)
50g Parmesan

1. Firstly, you need to roast your garlic. Slice of a third of the top of a big head of garlic. Give it a glug of extra virgin olive oil and some salt and pepper. Wrap it in tin foil. Pop it in the oven, at about 180C for about 30 minutes.

Try not to put the oven on just for this, you could sneak it in alongside something else when the oven’s on anyway and then save your cooked garlic for a day or two in the fridge ready for this pot of cheesey goodness.

2. Pan fry your pancetta or bacon until crispy. You won’t need any oil as it should release it’s own. Scoop it out of the pan and keep it safe to one side.

3. Put your pasta, milk and mustard in the pan over a low to medium heat. Stir it every few minutes and cook for about 20 minutes. If it begins to look dry, add a little more milk.

4. In the meantime, find a helpful friend to grate all of your cheese. Explain that you will know if one single gram gets sneakily ‘taste tested’.

5. Take your cooled, roasted, meltingly squidgy, wonderful garlic and squeeze it out of it’s skin. Mash it with a fork.

6. When your pasta is cooked, add your cheese, bacon and garlic and stir well over a low heat.

7. Serve and enjoy the best macaroni cheese you’ll ever taste.

Talking of cheesey.. Did you hear about the explosion at a French cheese factory? All that was left was de brie.

What’s your favourite cheesey recipe… Or joke?!

Sarah x

PS. This is my entry into the Co-operative Electrical (www.coopelectricalshop.co.uk) Winter Warmer recipe competition. You can read about this fab competition here.

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