Ingredients
350g/12oz macaroni
salt
freshly ground black pepper
100g/3½oz Red Leicester, grated
2 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
a little butter
For the white sauce
25g/1oz butter
25g/1oz plain flour
300ml/½ pint double cream or milk
a little nutmeg, freshly grated
For the garlic bread
2 crusty cobs, baguette or focaccia
2 bulbs garlic, skin on
knob of butter
olive oil
salt
freshly ground black pepper
Method
1.Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2.Cook the macaroni in a large pan of boiling salted water for about 15 minutes. Drain well.
3. Meanwhile, to make the white sauce, melt the butter and then stir in the flour. Add the cream or milk gradually, stirring all the time, until you have a thick sauce. Season with salt, pepper and freshly grated nutmeg.
4. Add most of the cheese into the sauce, saving some for the top.
5. Put the cooked macaroni into a 1 litre/1¾ pint serving dish. Pour over the sauce. Top with the remaining cheese and the breadcrumbs. Dot with butter and bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown.
6. To make the garlic bread, smash the two bulbs of garlic (leaving the skin on), place in tin foil with the halved cobs, a generous knob of butter and plenty of olive oil, seal and bake in a hot oven for 10-15 minutes.
7. Remove from the tin foil and serve with the hot macaroni.
