Mac and cheese bites
- Preparation and cooking time
- Total time
- + chilling
- Easy
- Makes 36
Skip to ingredients
- 1 tbsp butter
- 5 tbsp plain flour
- 250ml whole milk
- 75g mature cheddargrated
- 25g parmesan (or veggie alternative)finely grated
- 75g gruyère (or veggie alternative)grated
- 2 tsp American mustard
- ½ tsp garlic salt
- 150g small macaroni
- 2 large eggsbeaten
- 150g dried breadcrumbs
- for deep frying oil
JALAPEÑO SALSA
- 200g tin chopped tomatoesdrained (discard or freeze the juice)
- a handful of leaves coriander
- ¼ red onionroughly chopped
- roughly chopped to make 1 tbsp pickled jalapeños
Nutrition: per serving
- kcal107
- fat6.4g
- saturates1.7g
- carbs8.8g
- sugars0.8g
- fibre0.4g
- protein3.3g
- salt0.2g
Method
step 1
Melt the butter in a small pan. Add 1 tbsp of the flour and whisk on a low heat for 1 minute. Gradually whisk in the milk, then bring to a boil, whisking occasionally. Reduce the heat and simmer for 4 minutes or until thick. Stir in the cheeses until melted then stir in the mustard and garlic salt, and season.
step 2
Boil the pasta in salted water until al dente, drain well and mix with the cheese sauce. Spoon into a small baking dish and put in the fridge for 2-3 hours (or overnight) to set.
step 3
Put the salsa ingredients in a small food processor and pulse until chopped. Tip into a bowl.
step 4
Scoop out big teaspoonfuls of the macaroni and, with slightly wet hands, roll into balls.
step 5
Put the remaining 4 tbsp of flour into a dish and season. Put the eggs and breadcrumbs in separate dishes. Roll the balls in each then once more in the egg and breadcrumb. Chill for 10 minutes.
step 6
Heat the oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2. Fill a deep, medium pan no more than 1/3 full with the oil. Heat until the temperature reaches 180C or a cube of bread browns in about 30 seconds. Fry the balls in batches until deep golden and crisp. Drain on kitchen paper then keep warm in the oven while you cook the rest. Serve with the salsa for dipping.
