Tom Kerridge's Dirty Mac and Cheese
"I love mac and cheese and I love cheeseburgers, so why not combine the two?" This very indulgent twist on a regular mac and cheese combines fried beef and onions with macaroni and four different cheeses, topped with crispy bacon and gherkins. Tom warned you it was dirty…
Ingredients
Cheese Sauce:
Topping:
Method
- Preheat the oven to 180C fan.
- Warm the oil in a large non-stick sauté pan over a medium high heat. When the oil is hot, add the beef mince to the pan and season well with salt and pepper. Break the meat up using a wooden spoon and continue to cook for 10-15 minutes or until the beef is brown and crispy in parts. Next add the onions to the pan and continue to cook for 8-10 minutes or until they have started to brown well on the edges. Transfer the beef and onions into a dish and set aside to cool.
- Place a large pan of salted water on a high heat. Once boiling, add the macaroni and cook for 7-8 minutes or until very al dente. The pasta will continue cooking in the oven so it needs to be a little undercooked at this stage. Drain the pasta and run cold water over it to stop the cooking process.
- In the same frying pan you used for the beef and onions, cook the bacon until it is golden and crispy. Then scoop the bacon out of the pan using a slotted spoon and leave to drain on a plate lined with paper towel.
- Next, make the cheese sauce. Place the butter into a large non-stick saucepan over a medium heat until melted. Add the flour and stir over a medium low heat for 2-3 minutes. Add a third of the milk at a time, stir until the sauce has thickened each time. Once all the milk has been added, mix until smooth. Then add all three cheeses, stir and allow the cheese to melt. Finally add the American mustard, nutmeg and cream then season well with salt and pepper and remove from the heat.
- Mix the macaroni into the cheese sauce and stir well. Taste this mixture and add a little more seasoning if needed. Add the beef and onion to the pasta, stir to mix well, then spoon this mixture into four ovenproof dishes.
- To make the topping, mix together the mozzarella, sourdough breadcrumbs and parmesan, then sprinkle some onto each dish of macaroni. Pop these into the oven on a high shelf for 20-25 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and golden. Put them under the grill for a couple of minutes at the end if you like your cheese more toasted.
- Take the individual dishes out of the oven and sprinkle with the bacon and gherkins to serve. Beware that straight from the oven this dish will be extremely hot!
Rate this recipe
Overall Rating:
4.00
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