Last night I wasn't feeling very well and so Kitty's nanny, Shura, who is from St Lucia, made Kitty's dinner instead. It was mac and cheese the St Lucian way and it was really, really delicious. It is made without a white sauce, which cuts down the hassle factor by about two thirds and it contains onion, which works wonders. This might actually be a perfectly normal and widely-used method of making macaroni cheese but I've never come across is.
By the way please don't hassle me about having a nanny, okay???, it's too boring. She's not here every day and when she's here I don't laze around eating bonbons - well, not ALL day - so just cut it (as Shura would say).
St Lucian mac and cheese
1 small handful Annabel Karmel baby pasta shells
1 knob butter
1 small sloop semi-skimmed or whole milk (probably about two eggcup-fulls)
1 small sloop cream (if you have it, about one eggcupful)
1 handful grated cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon of very finely chopped or grated white onion or shallot
Preheat the oven to 180C
1 Boil the pasta as normal. Drain and return to the dry pan. Over a medium heat, add the knob of butter and stir until melted, then add the milk and continue to stir.
2 Throw over the cream if using and the onion, then the cheese and stir until completely melted. Turn out into a small oven-proof dish and stick in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
Loving the blog posts Esther!! I've missed recipe rifle! And your baby is too cute!
ReplyDeleteOh God. This is a disaster. I already love macaroni cheese more than it is normal to do so. And this sounds like a fabulous variation *chucks new year diet resolution out of the window*
ReplyDeletethat picture makes me too happy for words. xx so does the recipe!
ReplyDeleteThe recipe sounds good, thank you. Nothing wrong in having a nanny, I certainly would have done if it had been possible.
ReplyDeleteKitty has grown such a lot since we last saw her, pretty little thing.
That looks so good!
ReplyDeleteWhy would anyone hassle you for having a nanny? I am baffled by people who would interfere in someone else's decisions like that.
*waves pom pom's* your back... Yay! I would die for a nanny purely so I could sit on my arse all day and surf the world wide web! More yummy than the recipe is Kitty, so grown up now ! Xxx
ReplyDeleteNigella has something similar which I long to try, using evaporated milk instead of fresh milk/cream. I've bought a tin of evap milk for the first time in my life, but no-one in this house is keen to eat the results of that particular experiment, so I'll stick to Shura's version, which sounds better by far
ReplyDeleteI want a nanny for ME, not for almost teenage children. And by the way, who said we have to be busy all day? Tone here is not aggressive, more whiney, defensiveness due to being lazy "person". (New year Res, less swearing)
ReplyDeleteGood you have a nanny that cooks, especially a tasty oniony mac & cheese. Lucky daughter you have :-]
ReplyDeleteI had a nanny when child number two came along and she was great, and I didn't sit around eating bon bons either. Good for you. Do whatever works and makes life easy and happy for all of you, that's what I say.
ReplyDeleteGreat recipe. My way though is even easier, although less luxurious. Cook and drain pasta, grate tonnes of cheese into it, and/or onion chunks if you please. Add pepper. Put extra cheese on top. Whack it in the oven for about twenty minutes until it goes super crispy. At this point I usually add strips of bacon and maybe tomato slices on top and bung it back in the oven for ten minutes.
That sounds yummy
DeleteHaving a nanny is a fantastic idea! And it's lovely to see a photo of Pretty Kitty.
ReplyDeleteIt looks lovely but I can't abide anything Annabel Karmel so I will be using someone else's pasta when I make it. Nannys rock!!
ReplyDeleteMade this for my daughter this evening. She was pleased with it!
ReplyDeleteHaving a nanny is no worse than sticking the kids in nursery and then going home, lying on the sofa reading Living etc and watching Celebrity Big Brother on Sky+ which is what I do...
ReplyDeleteGood for you!!!
You're my kind of girl, Lolly
ReplyDeleteE x
This looks so good! I don't have a baby but my eating habits are very similar, so when I am not constantly tired and can be bothered to make myself anything but pasta with pesto, this will be top of my list!
ReplyDeleteLove your blog - I tell everyone about it (not every single person I meet but the small amount of people I actually like) THANK YOU!
This is the way I cook the kids mac and cheese. I prefer this way to be honest. Don't worry about having a nanny, most people need some form of childcare. Mine got to a childminder, bloody expensive but I have to work and its better than a nursery.
ReplyDelete