Mac and cheese makes a great snack and can be volume up to a filling meal. Recipes for macaroni cheese are easy to come by but we have been thinking of how to use a glut of runner beans up. We have a tasty recipe for Macaroni cheese and leeks which is a firm favourite in the leek season so we just switched the recipe about and used runner beans instead. Fantablious!

Link to measurement conversion chart

Makes enough for 3 hungry people or 4 as a light meal

Ingredients

• 600ml milk
• 225g Macaroni
• 200g tasty cheddar grated
• 100g breadcrumbs
• 50g Butter
• 40g plain flour
• A handful of Runner Beans approx. 5 per person, trimmed and sliced, then cut to approx. 10 cm

You will also need

• It is handy to have a bean slicer
• 1 large saucepan
• 1 small saucepan
• A casserole dish

Method

1. Pre heat your oven to 180 centigrade
2. Bring a large pan of water to boil, add the beans and macaroni, bring back to the boil and then simmer for 10 minutes, once cooked drain.
3. In a smaller pan melt the butter then add the flour, allow to cook for a minute – this is a roux
4. Remove the pan from the heat then gradually add the milk, stirring constantly until combined. Have a care at this stage as you may get lumps. If this happens, whisk the sauce until the lumps disappear.
5. Reheat until the sauce thickens, stirring constantly.
6. Add the cheese to the sauce, and continue to stir until the cheese melts.
7. Combine the macaroni with the sauce and stir to mix the beans evenly through, pour into an ovenproof dish
8. Combine the remaining cheese and breadcrumbs then sprinkle evenly over the top of the Mac and cheese.
9. Put into a hot oven and cook for 20 mins until the top is brown and crispy.

Serving suggestions and variations

• The boys insist that Mac and cheese should be served with a dollop of ketchup stirred in, I think this is disgusting. Each to their own
• Serve with a side of salad and some bread and butter
• If you want a bit of meat then sprinkle the top with chopped bacon
• If you want to add a little extra flavour stir in some fried onions
• Fancy a crispy top? try crumbling some unsalted tortilla chips on top before you bake and let the cheese melt over, see pics below - yummy

Acknowledgements

Simon can be credited with the name of this great dish. I can’t remember where the original recipe came from, that topped our Mac and cheese with Leeks, but it is embedded in our soles so much that macaroni cheese is not complete without leeks for us. We make it so often none of us uses a recipe any more. However now we have Running mac and cheese our world has opened up to any number of options.

You may also like to try these recipes from our collection;

• Fancy a little chutney instead of Ketchup then Carrot and Almond is a great one with Mac n Cheese
• For a rainy day brunch Rarebit hits the mark and this Onion Rarebit is just a bit different.
• an old fashioned pudding that is light is a rare thing, try Cherry Clafoutis which is a batter based baked dessert, and see what you think.

We hope you have enjoyed this recipe.

Eat and enjoy!