Recipe: Mac and cheese with bacon and walnuts

This dish is full of flavour and perfect when you need something filling but don’t have a lot of time

Serves: 6
Cooking time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

280g macaroni
A drizzle of rapeseed or olive oil
150g bacon lardons
500ml milk
150g blue cheese, or your favourite cheese, crumbled
40g grated hard cheese
1 tbsp Dijon-style mustard
1 tbsp parsley, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
15g breadcrumbs
30g walnuts

To serve: 
Rocket salad with sprouting peas and beans, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and red onions with a Dijon-style mustard, olive oil, lemon juice dressing

Method:

• Preheat the grill to medium high.

• Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted water until al dente – this will take approximately 5 minutes. Drain and reserve 250ml of the cooking water.

• Add a little oil to a frying pan and cook the bacon until crispy.

• Return the pasta to the saucepan with the reserved water, milk, blue cheese, two thirds of the hard cheese, the mustard, half the parsley, a little salt and the black pepper. Place over a high heat, bring to a boil, stirring until the sauce has warmed through and thickened.

• Turn the mixture into a 1½ litre ovenproof dish. Mix together the breadcrumbs, bacon, walnuts, remaining cheese and parsley and sprinkle over. Place under the grill until golden and bubbling.

• Serve with a salad of rocket leaves, sprouting peas and beans, sliced cucumber, chopped cherry tomatoes and sliced red onions. Add a dressing made with olive oil, Dijon-style mustard, lemon juice, salt and black pepper.