Macaroni and Cheese With Bacon Recipe South Africa
By
A Secret Recipe:
– Macaroni Cheese –
Mac and Cheese with Bacon and Tomatoes
I remember this was one of my favourite meals to come home to from school when I was growing up……Mum always made it with mature Cheddar cheese for a real bite and English mustard powder too, of course, in the sauce. Cheap and cheerful it may have been, a real "end of the month" recipe for a tight housekeeping budget, but it was always well received with me and my sister, and the plates were wiped clean. It amused me then to read, on one of my social media platforms, that I was now a "true American" when I shared some photos of the dish recently! Now, I DO know, having lived and worked in the USA, that "Mac'n'Cheese" is extremely popular there and you can even buy it in boxes, but, I never thought of it as an American recipe……I could be wrong, but I always assumed that it was a "nursery style" meal for harried cooks (or nannies) and people on a tight budget, and very British too!
So, when I visited my assigned blog for November, as part of The Secret Recipe Club, I was pleased to see that Mac and Cheese was one of the recipes in Enriching your Kid's recipe box.I would love to tell you more about the author of Enriching your Kid, but I couldn't find her (or his) name anywhere, suffice to say that they have an interesting site with healthy recipes on there, as the title indicates. Visiting their "About Me" page, I can tell you that they are…."Clinical Psychologist by profession; having practised a good number of years, they settled to be a home maker when they had their kids. They started the blog in a venture to chronicle their mom's recipes and experiments with cooking for the family"…..
I knew that I was going to make the Mac and Cheese, as soon as I saw the recipe, but I was also tempted by these other recipes: Mozarella Cheese Cutlets, Fish Cutlets, Bread Pudding and Makai ki Roti/Corn Flatbread.My baby has grown up and flown the nest now, but for those Lavender and Lovage readers who still have babies or young children at home, there are lots of recipes for baby food there, which must be a real boon for those mums who need a bit of inspiration now and then. You can browse all of Enriching your Kid's recipes here: Recipe Box.
What I loved about this recipe for Mac and Cheese, was the addition of tomatoes and onions……such a great way to incorporate vegetables into a protein rich dish.Searching around in my pantry and fridge, I discovered that I had all the ingredients as well as an opened packet of smoked bacon lardons…….Hmm……why not add some crisply fried bacon to the dish as well I thought, for a really filling complete meal. So, the recipe I am sharing today, is for my version of Macaroni Cheese, as we call it in the UK, with tomatoes and onions, but also some bacon. I also tweaked the sauce, and added some English mustard powder, like mum does, and this was a truly delectable dish, filled with nostalgia as well as an unctuous cheese sauce.
My recipe is shared below and I hope that this may have brought back happy memories for some of my readers too!That's it for today, do pop back for some new recipes, giveaways and some traveller's tales, have a wonderful week, Karen
Macaroni Cheese – Mac and Cheese with Bacon and Tomatoes
| Serves | 4 to 6 |
| Prep time | 15 minutes |
| Cook time | 25 minutes |
| Total time | 40 minutes |
| Allergy | Milk |
| Dietary | Vegetarian |
| Meal type | Lunch, Main Dish |
| Misc | Child Friendly, Serve Hot |
| Region | British |
| By author | Karen Burns-Booth |
Ingredients
- 240g elbow macaroni
- 100g smoked bacon lardons
- 2 onions, peeled and finely diced
- 2 tomatoes, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely diced
- 40g butter
- 40g flour
- 1/2 teaspoon English mustard powder
- 450mls milk
- 150g grated mature Cheddar cheese (plus extra for the topping)
- salt and pepper to taste
Note
A classic recipe for macaroni cheese with bacon, tomatoes and onion for extra flavour. Recipe adapted from Enriching Your Kid.
Directions
| Step 1 | Pre-heat oven to 200C/400F/Gas mark 6. Macaroni: Boil macaroni in salted water and drain. Add cold water and drain again. Set to one side |
| Step 2 | Add the bacon lardons, onion, tomatoes and garlic to a frying pan and sauté over a medium heat until the bacon is crisp and the tomatoes and onions are cooked. |
| Step 3 | Add the bacon, tomato and onion mix to the cooked macaroni and mix well. Spoon the macaroni and bacon mixture into a buttered oven proof dish. |
| Step 4 | To make the sauce: melt the butter then add the flour and mustard powder and mix well. Add the milk gradually, beating well, and then simmer over a low heat until you have a thick sauce. Add the grated Cheddar cheese and mix until melted, then season to taste with salt and pepper. |
| Step 5 | Pour the sauce over the macaroni mixture, scatter some extra grated cheese over the top and bake in pre-heated oven for 15 to 20 minutes until golden brown and bubbling. |
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Macaroni and Cheese With Bacon Recipe South Africa
Source: https://www.lavenderandlovage.com/2014/11/a-secret-recipe-macaroni-cheese-mac-and-cheese-with-bacon-and-tomatoes.html