MAC & CHEESE (without the MAC!)
Mac 'N' Cheese (minus the Mac!)
My son the movie maker, went mad with his iPhone camera and made a little movie about each of us on our recent ‘holiday’. Please remember I was not wearing a stitch of makeup!
The short version of my big birthday trip is as follows; Jetstar plane to Denpasar, diverted to Darwin due to volcano ash cloud, compelled to go through customs, immigration, electrical storm in Darwin, all planes grounded, airport runs out of food, shuts shop, kids starving, $85 cheese & crackers on plane not enough, fly back to Perth, (could have flown to Europe by now) talk to media, re-book flights for 2 days later, birthday with mango and pineapple by pool in attempt to pretend actually ON holidays, our suburb evacuated due to bushfire, planes still not flying to Bali, change booking to Phuket, fly thru night, paradise, paradise, paradise! Last day, tummy bug, son in accident on scooter, loses big chunk of foot, hospital, bone scraping, stitches, anti biotics, wheelchair, hell flight home, xrays, more doctors…calming results of holiday? Null and void. (You thought I was going to say ‘priceless’…admit it!)
So in case you were wondering….I need a holiday. BUT, I did have so many wonderful meals in Phuket that my foodie inspiration was ignited again, but this is not one of those inspirations! As usual, my ever growing boys cannot be filled up, so Mac & Cheese is one of their favorite options, but never one to go the normal route, this is Mac & Cheese without the Mac and with a few tweaks for a very grown up version…which they loved FYI! So I thought it rated a mention…enjoy! (Oh, and what is your worst holiday nightmare in 25 words or less??)
NEED:
500g cooked (Italian) tagliatelle pasta
Handful Italian parsley
1 onion, peeled and halved
4-5 cloves garlic
1 tbsp EVOO
40g cornflour
100g butter
300g milk
300g Greek yoghurt
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Zest 1 lemon
1 punnet of baby Roma tomatoes, halved
Handful pitted Kalamata olives
200g Greek feta cheese, crumbled
400g fresh Pecorino cheese, sliced
Handful fresh dill, and lemon wedges to serve
Additional Greek Yoghurt to serve
DO:
Place parsley into Thermomix bowl and chop for 3 seconds on speed 7.
Place garlic, onion, and oil into Thermomix bowl and chop for 4 seconds on speed 4. Saute for 5 minutes at Varoma temperature on speed 1.
Add butter, cornflour, milk, yoghurt and seasoning to Thermomix bowl. Cook for 7 minutes at 100°C on Reverse + speed 3.
Add the finely grated zest and stir through for a few seconds on speed 1. Set aside.
Place the cooked pasta into a large baking dish of choice (or several individual dishes!)
Stir bechemel sauce through. Top with torn fresh Pecorino, crumbled feta, sliced Roma tomatoes. Add olives, sprinkle with chopped parsley and sprigs of dill. Place under a hot grill until cheese is golden and bubbling.
Serve with lemon wedges and additional yoghurt and herbs. Now that’s priceless!
