Use up your Christmas cheeseboard with Darina Allen's mac and cheese 

Darina Allen says mac and cheese is a great dish for the family to cook and leftovers can be reheated

Macaroni cheese reheats very successfully provided the pasta is not overcooked in the first place.

Serves 6 

Macaroni cheese is one of my children’s favourite supper dishes. 

We often add some cubes of cooked bacon or ham to the sauce with the cooked macaroni. 

It also incorporates several techniques: how to grate cheese, make roux and a basic béchamel white sauce which can be used as a basis for many other recipes.

Ingredients:

225g macaroni 

3.4 litres water 

2 tsp salt 

50g butter 

50g white flour, preferably unbleached 

850ml boiling milk 

Quarter tsp Dijon or English mustard 

1 tbsp freshly chopped parsley, (optional) 

Salt and freshly ground pepper 

50g grated mature cheddar, 25g grated cheddar for sprinkling on top 

Method 

Bring a large pot of water to the boil, add the salt. 

Sprinkle in the macaroni and stir to make sure it doesn’t stick together. 

Cook until just soft, 10 to 15 minutes, and then drain well.

Meanwhile, melt the butter, add in the flour and cook on a medium heat, stirring occasionally for 1-2 minutes. Remove from the heat. 

Whisk in the milk gradually; bring back to the boil, stirring all the time.

Add mustard, parsley if using, and cheese. Season with salt and freshly ground pepper. 

Add the cooked macaroni, bring back to the boil, taste, correct seasoning and serve immediately. 

Macaroni cheese reheats very successfully provided the pasta is not overcooked in the first place.

Turn into a pie dish, sprinkle grated cheese over the top. 

Reheat in a heated moderate oven: 180C/ gas mark 4 for 15 to 20 minutes.