Macaroni Cheese

If there is a ready-made supermarket Macaroni Cheese that is any good I haven’t found it. I read The Greasy Spoon, Luke Honey’s eclectic blog on matters pertaining to food and culinary history, and last month he posted about the perfect Macaroni Cheese receipt.

It is what his wife cooks. It is overly complicated if you don’t have a wife to knock up the Bechamel sauce and make the lardons so I have adapted his receipt to a Super-Simple Macaroni Cheese which any bachelor can cook with ease and a Waitrose nearby. First, like any good General, you must marshal your troops.

It is such a simple dish that there is time to digress. The Kilkenny Arts Festival has an enticing programme, not least a talk about Churchill’s Irish Generals by Major-General Andrew Ritchie (former Commandant of Sandhurst) and Niall Burgess (Secretary General of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs). I hope Field Marshal, Earl Alexander of Tunis gets plenty of coverage. I have always thought there are so many Generals from (Northern) Ireland because they were Free Masons.

Now, pay especial attention to the two pots of Waitrose Cheese Sauce and the packets of ready-made lardons. You may, even if not a skilled chef, recognise tomatoes, Parmesan, Dijon mustard, ground nutmeg, ground white pepper (out of sight) and pepper mill. The coconut embellished in silver is not necessary – it is what cooks call garnish.

There is time for a fortifying drink before starting to cook. When you are ready, cook the macaroni according to the instructions on the packet. Meanwhile turn the oven to 190 C, or a bit less if a fan oven, and fry the lardons. Now comes the cunning bit. Mix the cooked macaroni, cheese sauce, mustard, nutmeg, white pepper, salt and lardons together in an oven-proof dish. Slice tomatoes over the top, grate some black pepper on and finish with a thatch of grated Parmesan. Then just time for a drink while you let it cook for twenty minutes or so. If it’s not getting brown and a bit crusty give it a blast under the grill.

Finally a Top Tip from Mrs Luke Honey: use plenty of cheese sauce. “Many Macaroni Cheeses fail because they don’t have enough sauce.” Mrs Honey will say my version ain’t nothing like the real thing.