This is a more complicated, but
much tastier, version of the student’s favourite - it is a relatively simple
and quick-and-easy dinner, but avoids the use of a roux and therefore doesn’t
taste floury or gloopy like other cheese sauces. The cheese sauce is based on a recipe by
Heston Blumenthal, but significantly adapted.
If meat is required, chopped up fried bacon (or alternatively a tin of
tuna) can be added before baking. Serves
2.
Ingredients
Approx 150 g dried pasta (e.g. penne, fusilli, macaroni)
1 white onion - finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
Sweetcorn (either a small tin, or one cob)
Approx 80 g blue cheese (e.g. Roquefort or Stilton) - chopped
Approx 80 g hard cheese (e.g. Beaufort or Emmental) - grated
A small tub (approx 200 g) of cream cheese
A couple of slices of white bread
Parmesan cheese
100 ml white wine
100 ml vegetable or chicken stock
Cornflour
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Method
Blend the bread to make fine breadcrumbs. Spread over a wide oven dish , and dry out in
a warm oven (100°C conventional / 80° fan / gas mark 1 or lower) until golden
Add a generous splash of olive oil to a small
frying pan, and fry the onion for a few minutes until soft. Add the garlic and sweetcorn (if using corn
on the cob, boil the cob first for 5 minutes then slice of the kernels using a
sharp knife), and fry for another few minutes
Put the pasta, with a generous pinch of salt and
small splash of olive oil, in a large pan of water. Boil according to packet instructions,
normally around 10-15 minutes. It wants
to be slightly more al dente than
would normally be eaten. Drain
Combine
the white wine and stock in a small pan, and boil furiously until reduced by
half. Remove from the heat, and add the
rind from the hard cheese. Leave to sit
for around 20 minutes
Meanwhile,
add a tablespoon of cornflour to the grated hard cheese and stir
Remove
the rind, then on a low heat stir in the grated cheese until melted. Add the blue cheese, and again keep stirring
until melted. Add the cream cheese - not
all of it may be needed, so just adjust according to consistency. It should end up being fairly thick and
creamy
In a large oven dish, combine the pasta and the onion,
garlic and sweetcorn. If using fried
bacon pieces or tinned tuna, add now.
Stir, then pour over the cheese sauce. Top with the breadcrumbs, a generous covering
of Parmesan cheese, and black pepper. Bake
in a preheated oven (200°C conventional / 180° fan / gas mark 4) for 20 minutes. Serve.
