Baked Macaroni & Cheese

I suddenly have a craving for macaroni and cheese. Rather preparing a traditional mac and cheese, I decided to make a baked macaroni and cheese for a simple dinner.

For the basic white sauce, I prepared the bechamel from equal parts of butter (50g) and flour (50g) to firstly make a roux and then add about 1 litre of milk. Together with the cooked macaroni, I added some fresh button mushrooms, bacon (lardons), ham, salt and black pepper for taste.  Add some grated cheddar cheese in the bechamel and a generous amount on the top of the macaroni. Baked in preheated 180C oven for about 30 minutes or till cheese are melted and golden brown.

I served the baked mac and cheese with some grilled asparagus.

Rigatoni Arrabbiata

I'm always amazed with the different types and shapes of Italian pasta. Recently I got some rigatoni (short ribbed tubular pasta) from a Nosh. Normally at one time there'll be atleast half a dozen types of pasta in mine pantry. A pasta dish can be simple like tossing freshly cooked pasta with good olive oil and pesto or more complex with bolognaise sauce like a veal ragu. What ever the style of pasta, I'm a strong proponent of quality ingredients.

For mine lunch a few days ago, I've decided to cook rigatoni arrabbiata. Arrabbiata is simple spicy tomato based sauce. I made some changes to a basic sauce by adding bacon lardons, canned Italian tomatoes and home-made chilli paste.

In a hot pan, fry some diced bacon (4-5 rashers), finely diced  an onion, crushed clove of garlice and a tbsp of chilli paste in olive oil until the onions are golden brown. Add the canned tomatoes. I prefer the canned whole Italian tomatoes. I crushed them between my fingers while emptying the can. Simmer the sauce for 15 mins and finally add salt and pepper for taste.

Stir the cooked rigatoni into the sauce and add some chopped flat leaf parsley. I served the rigatoni arrabbiata with some prosciutto di Parma and grated Parmigiano-Reggiano on top of the pasta. Finally drizzle with some extra virgin olive oil.