This photo doesn’t even begin to do this dish justice. I had only seconds before the baby woofed my portion, so this had to do.
It was comforting but not too heavy, and the cabbage and bacon added bite to the soft cheesy macaroni and sweet squash.
Fancy Autumn Macaroni Cheese (serves 6-8)
1 squash
Olive oil
Flake salt & fresh ground pepper
450g macaroni
½ a savoy cabbage
3 rashers of smoked bacon
600ml whole milk
50g butter + 1 tbsp more
50g flour
300g cheese (with as much flavour as you can get - no point using Mild here), grated
Peel and deseed the squash and cut into 3cm cubes. Put in a tinfoiled baking tray, slosh with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, crumble some flake salt over and bake at 180c for 30-40 mins or until soft and a tiny bit crisp at the edges.
Meanwhile, cook the macaroni in a big pot of boiling water (with some olive oil and salt. Blood has been spilt over my mother’s refusal to salt pasta. *It tastes like gummy flour if you don’t*, fyi). While it’s cooking (it doesn’t take long, and you want to leave it with a little bite) chop the half-cabbage into strips. In a frying pan, melt the tbsp of butter and, once bubbling, add the cabbage and stir around for only about 15-20 seconds. It’ll soften more in the heat of the macaroni.
Drain the macaroni and put in a serving dish with the cabbage on top, then cover with some tinfoil and a tea towel (to keep it warm). In a saucepan, put the milk, flour and butter, gently heat and beat continually with a silicon whisk (this is literally the only use I’ve found for that utensil. Imagine people trying to beat eggs with it HAHAHHAHA). It’ll thicken up beautifully and smoothly, at which point you can take it off the heat and add the cheese and a few grinds of pepper. While that cheese melts in, cook the bacon (I tossed it in the cabbage frying pan - you know my motto about reduced washing up - but you can always grill it if that really floats your boat), then slice it into 2cm squares. Precision is not required here.
Remove the squash from the oven once browned and soft, and add it to the macaroni and cabbage, along with the bacon and cheese sauce. Stir gently. Serve with a fresh green salad in a nice lemony dressing.
SIDE NOTE: a jam jar with a lid got M not only into salads, but also into tasting the food as we go along. M’s now our trusted salad-dressing maker. Another chore delegated. #success