Macaroni Cheese

Serves 8. The method below is fairly meticulous due to the intended scale of the operation.

Ingredients

• 1kg macaroni
• 200g butter (150g sauce + 50g topping)
• 150g plain flour
• 4 pints whole milk (1893mL)
• 800g mature cheddar (700g sauce + 100g topping)
• 4 pieces white bread
• (optionally) 8 rashers bacon

Method

1. Melt 150g butter in a large pan and then stir in the flour when melted. This should form a stiff dough. Cook for a few minutes.
2. Fill two pans with water, add salt (about 4 pinches each), and bring them to the boil. While this is happening, start adding the milk to the roux a little at a time. Make sure the milk is incorporated each time before adding more. It's easy to create lumps.
3. Once all the milk is incorporated, pour the macaroni into the two pans of (now boiling) water. At this point all three pans will need to simmer for about 15 minutes. The macaroni should go soft, and the roux should become thick.
4. While this is happening, grate the cheese, crumble the bread, and (optionally) chop up the bacon. Make sure you stir the roux.
5. If you're having bacon, fry it up in an oiled frying pan. After that's done put the remaining 50g butter in the pan and add the breadcrumbs. Make sure the breadcrumbs soak up the butter and fry them up for a few minutes.
6. When the macaroni is soft pour it into a colander. When the roux is thick turn off the heat and add 700g of the grated cheese. Stir in the cheese and add some pepper.
7. Pour the macaroni into greased baking trays and pour the cheese sauce on top. Mix in the sauce. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs on top and then the rest of the grated cheese.
8. Place each baking tray in turn under the grill until the cheese is bubbling, then serve.