Macaroni and Cheese - Jamie Oliver

Macaroni and Cheese
His old school twist on the "old-school frumpy dish".

1 pound elbow pasta
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a knob of butter
a small bunch of fresh marjoram or oregano, leaves picked
3 1/2 oz parmezan cheese, freshly grated, plus extra for grating
3 1/2 oz fontina or talegggio cheese, roughly torn
3 1/2 oz mascarpone cheese
1/4 of a nutmeg
a small ball of buffalo mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 400' F. Cook the macaroni in a pan of salted boiling water for 2 minutes short of the timing on the package instructions, then drain in a colander and reserve a little of the cooking water. Heat the butter in a large heavy-based frying pan. When it starts to foam, add the marjoram or oregano and fry for a minute,add pasta along with a couple spoonfls of the reserved cooking water and the cheeses. Return to medium heat and toss and stir around until most of the cheese has melted and you have a lovely gooey sauce - you may need to add a little more of the reserved cooking water. Season to taste, the tip it all into an earthenware dish. Grate over the nutmeg, tear of the mozza and sprinkle over the extra Parm. Bake the macaroni cheese in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, finishing up with a quick whack under the broiler, until golden brown and crispy on the top.


Alright, so of course I changed it a bit. Since money doesn't grow on trees out where I live I had to use the cheese I had in my fridge. Which was Dutch Gouda, Sharp Aged Mozzarella Cheese and Parmesan Cheese. I also didn't have fresh herbs so I used about 2 tsp. each of oregano and marjoram dried, using the same method of frying it in the butter a wee bit first.

Before I popped it in the oven I grated a bit more mozza and a sprinkle of parm on the top.

Turned out beautifully and Spencer and I both couldn't get enough of it. It was quick, easy and way better then the boxed stuff at the store!!!