Fully loaded mac'n cheese recipe

Mac'n cheese is everyone's favourite cheesy pasta dish and this version is the best yet. It's full of delicious pulled ham hock, crispy fried onions and plenty of cheese with a really crunchy, cheesy top. This mac'n cheese is ready in 40 minutes which means you can make it any night of the week! Your whole family will love this recipe - you have to break through the crunchy, cheesy top to get to the creamy pasta that's full of delicious salty ham hock. You can easily enjoy a serving of this macaroni with loads of leafy greens for a more balanced meal. And you can make a big batch of it and then freeze it. If you've got a big family, or are cooking for friends you can easily scale up and make more, as long as you've got a big enough casserole dish to cook it in!

Ingredients

• 350g macaroni pasta
• 25g butter
• 25g plain flour
• 800ml whole milk
• A little grated nutmeg
• 125g mature Cheddar, grated
• 40g crispy fried onions
• 180g cooked pulled ham hock (or leftover roast ham or pork)
• 40g dried breadcrumbs

Method

1. Cook the pasta for 3 mins in boiling water, then drain, run under cold water and set aside.

2. Heat the oven to 180C fan,gas 6. Melt the butter in a pan, add the flour and mix constantly with a wooden spoon for 1 min, then add 200ml of the milk. Stir until smooth and thick, then add about a third of the remaining milk. Once thickened, add the rest – keep stirring until smooth. Season well, add a little nutmeg and most of the cheese – when it‘s melted, remove from the heat.

3. Stir in the macaroni, fried onions and ham hock, then scrape into a roasting dish. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese and breadcrumbs, and bake for 15-20 mins.