Mix the cooked leeks together with the macaroni, broccoli, sweetcorn, and creme fraiche, or cream cheese and season with salt and pepper.Alternatively, you can use a soft cream cheese. Stir the dijon mustard into the creme fraiche and add half the grated cheese.Meanwhile, add the olive oil to a large frying pan and fry the leek over a medium heat for around 8 minutes until soft.Don't forget to dice the stalks and use these as well so you have no waste. Add the broccoli to the pasta water for the last 2 minutes.Leave the macaroni noodles a little 'al dente' or not quite done as the pasta will continue to cook in the oven. Cook the macaroni according to the packet instructions until it is almost done, then drain it.Pre-heat the oven to 200☌/400☏/gas mark 6.You can also freeze breadcrumbs and use them straight from frozen so this is a useful way to avoid foodwaste.īaked Macaroni Cheese with creme fraiche or cream cheese How to make it I usually just put a slice in a food blender to quickly turn it into breadcrumbs. They are also a great way of using up bread that is past it's best. Grating it yourself is also cheaper and means you can reduce your plastic.īreadcrumbs are optional but add a nice bit of crunch to the topping. I like to use a mature cheddar cheese as it has more flavour. This also unfortunately means it doesn't always melt that well. This is because ready grated cheese contains anti-caking agents to stop it all clumping together in the bag. When using a cheese in cooking, it's best to grate it yourself.

For the mac and cheese topping, I've used grated cheddar cheese. If you need a non dairy option then see the note about how to make a Vegan Macaroni Cheese.Ĭheese. Just stir the cream cheese with the cooked leeks until it has melted. As an alternative to creme fraiche, you could use a soft cream cheese. You could even use a low fat creme fraiche for an even lower calorie version. Using creme fraiche for the sauce in place of a traditional roux or cheese sauce not only makes this dish quicker to prepare, it also means it is lighter. Plus it turns it into a great one-pot dish and adds some colour to the plate.Ĭreme Fraiche. Adding vegetables not only means extra nutrition, but makes it more economical. Dice up the broccoli stalks as well as the florets so nothing is wasted. I've added leeks, broccoli and sweetcorn to this baked macaroni cheese but you could choose other vegetables such as peas or kale or cauliflower.

This is because the macaroni will continue to cook in the oven. When cooking the macaroni pasta noodles, you should cook until they are almost done but still have a little bit of bite.

Homemade mac and cheese no roux