Macaroni and Cheese

As many of you know, I really love macaroni and cheese. The stuff that comes in a box. A blue box, from Kraft. Yes, I really love it. I do. The orange powder. Yum. Addictive, even. And sadly, not easy to come by in this little corner of the world. Thus, I jump at pretty much all recipes for homemade macaroni and cheese, and when Kevin announced that he'd host an event to collect many such recipes - I knew I had to participate.

I got Jamie Oliver's new book, Cook with Jamie, for christmas. I have a lovely husband. And this book has what looked like a very promising recipe for macaroni and cheese. So I went ahead and made this for New Year's Day - a lazy day when carbs and fat was exactly what we wanted. And the verdict? Well, it's a nice enough dish. Sure. But honestly, for almost half a kilo of cheese, I expected something with a bit more oomf. I can think of many better things to do with that much cheese - and this is just not great enough. But I'm really looking forward to eating my way through many other nice macaroni cheese recipes - bring them on!

Macaroni and Cheese
Serves 4

based on a recipe from Cook with Jamie

400 g pasta (I like spirals)
butter
1 tbsp dried oregano (Jamie would use fresh, so go ahead if you have it)
80 g parmesan, grated
100 g taleggio cheese, cubed
125 g mascarpone cheese
1/4 of a nutmeg, finely grated
125 g fresh mozzarella (one ball)

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees, and boil your pasta in salted water. Remove it about two minutes before it's done and drain, but save some of the pasta water.

Melt the butter in a small saucepan, and add the oregano. Fry for a few minutes, then lower the heat and melt the taleggio, mascarpone and parmesan. Add a few spoons of pasta water until you have a smooth sauce. Mix with the drained pasta, adding more water as needed, and season with plenty of grated nutmeg.

Transfer to an oven-proof dish. Top with torn pieces of mozzarella, and a bit more grated parmesan if you'd like. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Turn the oven to "grill", and bake for just a few minutes more, until the top is golden and crunchy.

Recipe in Swedish:
Pasta med ostsås