Best Macaroni Cheese Ever! (Recipe)

Google "macaroni cheese recipe" and you'll get over 400,000 results. So why am I giving you another recipe for mac 'n' cheese, aka macaroni cheese, aka mac & cheese, aka macaroni and cheese?

Simple, because this recipe is genuinely the BEST ever! Kraft Mac 'n' Cheese is all very well, but a few simple ingredients, a short stint in the oven and, according to everyone who's tried this, you're looking at mac and cheese heaven :)

Of course, what really makes this cheesy manna is the hitherto top secret ingredient which I am now ready to reveal to the world ... ready salted crisps (ie plain potato chips)!

This recipe serves four hungry people, six who are less so ...

The Best Macaroni Cheese Ever (IMHO)

• 3 heaped tbsp plain flour


• 2 heaped tbsp margarine/butter


• 2 mugs milk


• 500g pasta tubes (I like them fat so I use rigatoni or tortiglioni rather than actual macaroni)


• 300g grated mature cheddar


• 2 packets of ready salted crisps


• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup


• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce


• 1 tsp wholegrain mustard

Cook the pasta till it's a little tougher than al dente (ie almost under-cooked!), then drain well and set aside. Melt the margarine in a saucepan, add the flour and stir over a medium heat until it forms a roux and cook for a few more minutes.

Next drizzle in the milk slowly and whisk at the same time until the sauce thickens. Add the ketchup, mustard and Worcestershire sauce and two-thirds of the cheddar and whisk again.

Next pre-heat your oven to to 200°C, 400°F, Gas Mark 6. Tip the drained pasta into the pot of sauce and stir so all the tubes are coated evenly.

Now for the fun part. Get the two bags of crisps and SMUSH them to within an inch of their lives! Open the packets and stir one bagful of crispy crumbs into the pot of saucey pasta.

Transfer the pasta to a deep baking dish and sprinkle the other packet of crispy bits evenly all over the top.

Then cover this crisp layer with the rest of the grated cheese (so that the crisps don't burn) and then place in the oven for 25 minutes.

As soon as the cheese on top is melty, browned and bubbling, it's ready to eat.

When you're dishing up, make sure everyone gets a piece of the gorgeous crispy, crunchy, cheesy topping or there'll be trouble!

I like to serve a leafy green salad with balsamic dressing on the side, so I feel a little bit better about the massive cholesterol hit ...

UPDATE 28/12/09: Am entering this in the "Best Original Recipe" category in Fiona Beckett's Ultimate Macaroni Cheese Challenge. See the Cheeselover for more details. Wish me luck!