Macaroni cheese with bacon & pine nuts
Serves 4 Prep 10 mins Cook 40 mins
50g pine nuts
4 rashers bacon, chopped
400g macaroni or any short pasta 300ml pot double cream
200ml tub crème fraîche
200g mature cheddar, grated 2 tsp Dijon mustard green salad, to serve (optional)
1 Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Put the pine nuts in a dry frying pan, gently toast for 2-3 mins, then tip onto a plate. In the same pan, add the bacon and cook for a few minutes until crisp.
2 Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and cook the pasta following pack instructions until al dente. Drain, reserving a ladleful of the pasta cooking water to use later.
3 Meanwhile, put the double cream, crème fraîche and half the cheese in a saucepan, stir together and gently warm through until the cheese has melted. Take off the heat and stir in the mustard and some seasoning to taste.
4 Tip the drained pasta into a large baking dish and stir in the cheese sauce, adding some of the pasta cooking water if it looks a little dry. Sprinkle the toasted pine nuts and cooked bacon over the top, then scatter over the remaining cheese. Bake for 20 mins until the top is golden and bubbling, then serve with a green salad, if you like.
PER SERVING nnè cals, vat Èäg, saturates Î4g, carbs Èäg, sugars 4g, fibre Îg, pr te 2Èg, salt 1.4g