I love cheese. A lot of you know I’ve dabbled a lot with vegetarianism lately and that’s been going pretty well. Cheese is the main thing that stops me going the whole hog and properly attempting being vegan though. But enough of that, today I made the greatest Mac N Cheese of my life. I mean even better than the Mac N Cheese Pizza Pie. It was full of flavour, rich in colour and 100% completely winged. Most of my mac n cheese meals are but this one I took it a bit further. Throwing in a number of extras but using less types of cheese than I usually do.
The lovely people across at Comté sent me a sample and, what with Mother’s Day coming up, asked me about cheese recipes which remind me of my mum. Well in the last couple of years, whenever I’ve been up to visit them in Scotland, I’ve been teaching my mum how to up her Mac N Cheese game so this felt like it would be appropriate. I usually go for slightly more basic flavours with a creamy cheese and perhaps a blue, but this time around I wanted the Comté to shine and added a little bit of Gruyere to give it a bit more depth of flavour. This was about a 70/30 ratio.
Mustard, garlic and pancetta give it a tang and smokiness whereas the figs laid across the top give it a sweet edge. I opted for a grating of parmesan over the top and a sprinkle of thyme to finish. I also cooked this in a skillet but you can easily do this in a small dish. It’s also an easy recipe to scale up or down the amounts. This is enough for a good sized portion for one, or as a side for two.
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 1 Tbsp flour
- 100ml Milk
- 70g Comte, grated or cut very small
- 30g Gruyere, grated or cut very small
- 1 Tsp English Mustard
- 100g Elbow macaroni
- 70g diced pancetta
- 1 large clove garlic
- Sprig thyme
- 1 Fig, sliced
- Parmesan, for grating (optional)
- Salt & Pepper, for taste and garnish
- Preheat the oven to 190°C (170°C fan assisted)
- Cook the Macaroni following the instructions on the pack.
- While the macaroni is cooking, melt the butter in a small sauce pan and stir through the flour to form a form a roux. Add the milk and stir until combined then add the cheeses. Stir constantly until melted then stir through the mustard. Remove from the heat and set aside, adding more milk if you want it runnier.
- Cook the pancetta with the garlic. Combine all the ingredients and add to the skillet or dish. Cover the top with figs, thyme and parmesan (if using).
- Place in the center of the preheated oven and cook for 20-25 minutes or until bubbling and browning on top. Serve.
This post was done in collaboration with Comte who sent me some cheesy samples.
Firstly, how cute is that pan. And secondly, I think I’ve died and gone to cheese heaven.
Cuter than it was meant to be! I did a derp when I ordered it last year and actually meant to get the size up, but it’s still pretty great. PERFECTLY sized for skillet cookies too.
Haha, thank you 🙂
Oh man, this looks damn good. Hollie would love this.
Buckets & Spades
Thanks! Definitely give it a go. It was so full of flavour.