Takeaway Wednesday: The famous Mac & Cheese

We received a whole lot of sms’s but the clear winner was Janine Froneman from Kempton Park. She is 25 years old and her family rallied behind her, all agreeing that she makes the best Mac and Cheese in the world.

Her mom, Ronel says she learnt to cook mac-and-cheese at school, but she perfected the recipe herself.

Janine gets a R1500 Spar voucher from our friends at Spar.

Ingredients:

500g Macaroni

1/2 kg Mince (or more depends on how meaty you like it) you can even use chopped up chicken.

3-4 Tomatoes 

1 Onion

2 Garlic cloves

Your favourite herbs and spices (I use oregano, thime, parsley but you can add different flavours)

4 tablespoons Sweet chili sauce 

Cooked mix veggies

Ingredients for cheese sauce:

2-4 cups of milk (depends how much sauce you want to make)

4 tablespoons of butter 

+- 1/2 cup of flour (add more or less depending on how much and how thick you want the sauce)

Cheese (lots of cheese)

Garlic

3 tablespoons Chicken/mushroom soup powder

Again some of your favourite herbs or spices 

Method:

Boil your macaroni in a big pot. Add a tablespoon of oil and a pinch of salt. 

In a pan add a little bit of oil, put on medium heat. chop the onions finely and add to your pan, then crush and chop the garlic and add as well. Keep lightly stirring till onions just start going brown. Now add your mince and your herbs and spices, keep stirring then add the sweet chilli sauce, chop up tomatoes and add then add the mix veg. Once mince is cooked you can put stove off and leave over the heat.

Macaroni should be cooked so you can strain and put aside. 

Cheese Sauce:

In a medium-size pot. Put stove on medium heat, add your butter and keep stirring till butter is melted (I use a whisk as it stops the sauce from clotting). Gradually add the flour while stirring it will start to become a pasty texture. Now gradually add the, add a little then stir, then keep adding and stirring. Now add the soup powder, herbs and chilli sauce. Then your cheese, keep adding cheese till you are happy with the cheesiness. 

Now mix everything together, your mince, sauce and macaroni, place it in an oven pan, add a thin layer of cheese then sliced of tomato then another layer of cheese. Place in the oven with the top grill on high till your cheese is melted. 

You now made a perfect Mac and cheese.

Janine's recipe was a hit with Scenic Drive listeners.