MAC AND CHEESE PIE

What’s better than sumptuous creamy cheese Mac n cheese, stuff it in a rough puff pastry pie that’s what !

This heart warming pie delivers on all fronts, comforting, sumptuous, nostalgia and flavour.  Three cheese bechamel sauce, perfect macaroni elbows, a layer of sweet chilli sauce all encased in a all butter rough puff golden flakey pastry.

Ingredients 

(serves 6)

The Rough Puff Pastry

330g self raising flour

130g suet

150g water

1 pinch Himalayan sea salt 

200g butter

Mac n Cheese

6 potions elbow macaroni

50g butter

50g plain flour

1 ltr gold top creamy Jersey milk

1 onion halved 

1 clove

1 bay leaf

400g -500g medium cheddar cheese grated 

100g Emmental grated 

100g Gruyère grated

200g Parmesan grated

Sea salt and white pepper

First make the rough puff pastry, place all the ingredients except the butter in a bowl and bring together to a rough ball, roll out to a 1/2 " thick rectangle, you are going to repeat the next stage four times, slice the butter into 12 slices, place 3 butter slices on the top first half of the rolled out pastry and fold up the bottom half covering the butter, turn the folded pastry 90 degrees and roll out to rectangle again, repeat 3 more times, wrap in parchment paper or cloth and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.  This technique layers the butter through the pastry.

This is roughly how your rough puff pastry will look inside, all the layers of butter are what will melt and make your rough puff, puff up and become light and melt in the mouth pastry.

Mac n Cheese

First bring the milk up to almost a simmer and take off the heat, take the onion and using the clove as a stud pin the bay leaf to the onion and pop into the milk, leave to infuse for half an hour.  Meanwhile make the roux by melting the butter and adding the flour, cook on a really low heat for five minutes, this is to cook out some of the flour flavour.  Increase the heat to a mild-medium and add a ladle of infused milk, stir in well, repeat this until all the milk has been incorporated leaving the onion behind.

On a gentle just simmer keep the milk sauce cooking for twenty minutes stirring most of the time, next add almost all of the cheddar, half of the Parmesan cheese, the Emmental and Gruyère and stir in until melted, season with salt and pepper to taste, you can add more seasoning or cheese to your taste, leave to one side while you cook the macaroni.

Bring a large pan of water to a boil season with sea salt, drop in the macaroni and cook for 6-8 minutes until al dente, soft but with a hint of bite to the elbows, drain well and toss through a ting dash of olive oil to stop clumping, leave to cool then add to the reserved bechamel cheese sauce and combine well, leave to one side while you roll out you’re pastry.

Pre heat your oven 180 C / 356 F.  Grease your pie tin, divide the pastry as two thirds and one third, reserve the one third for the pie top and decoration, roll out to the thickness of a pound coin and line the pie tin, fill the pie with the macaroni cheese, optional add a generous spoon full of sweet chilli sauce over the top, roll out a pie lid, egg wash the rim of the pie, place on your pie lid on top and crimp the edges together, decorate and egg wash the top.

Bake in the oven for approx 40 minutes until golden and flakey, serve immediately and keep leftovers if there is any! in the fridge for indulgent snacking.