Macaroni, Mushroom and Cheese Bake

I would say this macaroni and cheese recipe from Jamie Oliver is one of the swear-to-god-ly easy recipe ever invented. No bechamel sauce is needed. Look at the short and clean ingredients list, you only need that few things to come up with a gigantic, delicious and comforting dish.

My previous mac-n-cheese attempts were always dry, not cheesy and most importantly the leftovers did not reheat well.

The cheese and cream melt-together sauce in this recipe completely solves this problem. I didn't 100% follow the original recipe, I omitted the cauliflower, added mushroom and I used gouda cheese instead of parmesan, and it didn't taste half-bad.

(serves 4 - 6)

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cups sliced mushroom

1 tsp dried herb (thyme, basil or oregano)

1 lb macaroni

1 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup grated gouda cheese

1 cup cream

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup breadcrumb

Directions:

Heat pan with olive oil. Add mushroom and dried herb. Stir until mushroom is cooked. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. Cook macaronia until al dente, not fully cooked. Drain in a colander. Reserve the pasta water.

In a sauce pan, gently melt the cheese with cream. Season with salt and pepper. Stir evenly until smooth.

Preheat over to 400F.

Transfer macaroni to a greased baking dish, pour in the melted cheese, mushroom and 1/4 cup pasta water. Stir to a silky consistency.

Sprinkle breadcrumb on top.

Grill macaroni on top shelf until golden and bubbling, about 10 minutes.