Madhouse recipe : Mac & cheese with Spinach & Bacon

Macaroni Cheese is something I always used to eat as a kid but it never sounds as exotic as the American version Mac and Cheese. Even Madhouse Daddy raves about the Kraft Mac and Cheese from a packet that he used to eat in the States when he was an au pair, so I decided to adapt a recipe I'd seen for American-style Mac & Cheese and add bacon and spinach.

Mac & Cheese with Spinach & Bacon

serves 6

ingredients :

500g  macaroni

3tbsp butter

3tbsp flour

1tbsp mustard powder

3 cups (720ml) milk

2 onions (1/2 cup)

1 bayleaf

1/2 tsp paprika

330g cheddar

1tsp salt

pepper

1 cup (150g) dried breadcrumbs

200g bacon lardons, cooked

150g spinach (fresh or frozen)

Preheat the oven to 180°C.

Cook the macaroni in boiling salted water until just cooked. Drain and reserve.

Melt the butter in a saucepan. Add the mustard and flour and mix until well blended and lump-free. Add the milk, onions, spinach, paprika and bay leaf. Cook on a low heat (just simmering) for 10 minutes, whisking until smooth. Take off the heat and remove the bay leaf.

Mix in 3/4 of the cheddar and the bacon and season with salt and pepper. Pour over the macaroni and mix well. Sprinkle with the remaining cheddar.

In a frying pan, toast the breadcrumbs. Sprinkle over the top of the dish.

Put in the oven for 30 minutes and leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

You can add any extra ingredients you want to jazz things up : ham, chicken breast, chorizo or leftover cooked vegetables. The bacon and spinach combination worked really well though and the addition of crunchy breadcrumbs was a nice touch.

Linking up to #ExtraVeg with Fuss Free Flavours and Utterly Scrummy

I'm joining in with the World Cup recipe challenge over on the Cooking Around The World blog

Other blogposts you may be interested in :

Madhouse recipe : Salmon & Spinach Puff-Pastry Parcels

Madhouse recipe : Fruity Tasty Toasted Muesli Bread

Globe-cooking recipe (South Africa) : Bobotie and Geelrys en Rosyntijes (Yellow Rice)