Truckers Mac Cheese

 Enjoy this candid photo of my dinner mid mouthful, because I was like omg I need to share this. 

This is not a baby friendly recipe. But rather a good filling meal for parents to enjoy! Although older ones may enjoy this! 

This is a take on the classic Mac cheese but with hearty black pudding and bacon chunks. I chose the name truckers Mac cheese because, well, it sounded cool 😂

This dish consists of the cheese sauce, filling, breadcrumbs and pasta. 

In regards to seasoning, I avoided any additional salt due to the saltiness of the bacon.

Cheese sauce:-

50g butter 

4 Tbsp plain flour 

500ml whole milk

1/2 Tsp English mustard 

125g cheese mix (I opted for Morrisons savers mozzarella, red leicester and cheddar mix) 

Add the butter into a saucepan on a low heat and allow to melt. Once melted add in the flour and cream together, this should form a paste. 

Slowly add the milk bit by bit, whisking until fully combined each time. You should see it start to thicken, once it has it's time to add more milk. 

Once all the milk is added, I like to continue cooking on a low to medium heat to cook out the flour stiring very often. It's this point I add the mustard. 

I then take it off the heat, add the cheese and season with a generous serving of black pepper. Incorporate it until fully combined and set aside. 

Filling:- 

4 slices of black pudding, cubed

Bacon lardons/ panchetta 

1 large onion, thinly sliced 

This is a 1 pan job. I simply decanted the lardons, added the cubed black pudding and onions into a pan and popped straight on a med/ high heat. No oil needed due to the fat content of the bacon. 

I cooked until fully cooked and starting to brown and crisp. 

Once this is done, tip it into the cheese sauce and set aside. (I used my slow cooker on warm/ low to keep it hot. Alternatively you can pop a hob on the lowest setting and stir often).

Breadcrumbs:-

Shop bought is absolutely fine! However I couldn't locate them for the life of me. So I opted to make my own.

I sliced roughly 25g of butter and cubed it. Ripped up a couple of slices of tiger bread, particularly the crusts and blitzed it in a food processor. 

I then browned them off in the air fryer checking and shaking regularly. Finished them off by tossing through a few pinches of oregano. 

Pasta:-

Any pasta will do! I opted for one that looked nice. Spirali to be exact. 

Cook the pasta to packet instructions, combine with the cheese sauce and filling. 

To serve, pop in a bowl, add some cheese and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. 

Brilliant dish, especially for the cooler months ahead!