Italian basil, tomato and salmon macaroni cheese

This is the first savoury recipe on this blog. I think that you may have figured out that I have a pretty sweet tooth if you had a quick browse through the blog.

Macaroni cheese is one of those dishes which reminds you of your childhood days, it is always a favourite with everyone and I guess anything with cheese is tasty; the more cheese the better. I remember asking my mum to add even more cheese than there already was, I guess I was a just cheesy person; forgive me, yes it's a bad joke so no pun intended. I have had macaroni cheese with different kinds of cheeses, but the good old English Cheddar cheese is always going to be the best. However this time I thought that I would add a twist, go for an Italian theme, and as I said before, as long as it has cheese in it, it will definitely taste good; I was right. I guess that you can even try making your own version of 'mac n cheese' by experimenting with different flavours as it's such a versatile base. Or if you are one of those people who always like the good old, you can just stick to the simple basic recipe with no added extras; classic. What ever you go for I can almost assure you that you eat your plate clean.


Serves 4
Time to prepare:30mins

Ingredients:
200g macaroni pasta
2 tbsp butter
2tbsp plain flour
450 ml milk
150g-200g Cheddar cheese (depending on how cheesy you want it)
50g smoked salmon or normal salmon fillet
a handful of cherry tomatoes halved
a bunch of fresh basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

1.Preheat the oven to 180C.

2.In a saucepan boil the pasta for around 5 mins till it is around half cooked.Drain the water.

3. In another pan melt the butter and add the flour, this will make a roux to thicken the milk. Once a paste is formed add the milk slowly; make sure that you keep stirring so that there are no lumps.

4. Add the cherry tomatoes, salmon and basil (chopped). 

5.Keep on the heat and keep stirring, you should slowly see the sauce thickening. Once it is has thickened up a bit add the cheese (but not all as you want some for the topping) and mix in. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Add the pasta to the sauce and mix in.

7. Now pour the pasta mixture into an oven proof dish. Add a few cherry tomatoes, basil leaves and cheese to garnish the top.

8. Bake in the oven with a lid for around 20mins. then without the lid for around 20mins.

9. Serve nice and hot.

Notes:
1. You can try using different cheeses like Red Leister instead of Cheddar.
2. You don't have to add the salmon, tomatoes and salmon if you just want plain macaroni cheese.
3. Try adding bread crumbs on top before baking for added texture.

A post from FullestofLife