Macaroni Cheese

Sometimes I make a cross between macaroni cheese and cauliflower cheese, cooking cauli florets with the pasta for the last five minutes.

It's an easy dish and I usually have the ingredients on hand - unless we're running out of milk!

pasta
1 large onion
2 or 3 rashers of bacon
oil
1/4 cup flour
300ml milk
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups grated tasty cheddar
salt to taste
dried breadcrumbs
dried mixed herbs
2 tomatoes, sliced

Cook the required amount of pasta according to the directions on the pack. Use plenty of boiling, salted water.

Finely chop the onion. Remove the rind from the bacon and discard. Chop the bacon.

Place the onion and bacon in a deep saucepan and saute until the bacon is cooked and the onion transparent. If the bacon is lean, you will need to add some oil. Sprinkle in the flour then gently add the milk, stirring to combine it with the flour/fat mix. Add a cup of grated cheese and the cayenne. Simmer until it is bubbling, stirring with a wooden spoon. Set aside.

When the pasta is cooked al dente, drain it and combine with the sauce. Pour into a large shallow ovenproof dish and cover with the sliced tomatoes. Mix the remaining cheese with about half a cup of dried breadcrumbs and a teaspoon of dried mixed herbs. Sprinkle over the tomato. Bake in a preheated 180C oven until the cheese is golden and the mixture bubbling.

The breadcrumbs combine with the cheese to give a tasty crunchy crust.