Garlic Butter Prawn Mac & Cheese

Ingredients

• 40g plain flour
• 500ml whole milk, warmed
• 50g butter
• 300g macaroni
• 200g mature cheddar, grated
• 100g mozzarella, grated
• 400g raw peeled prawns
• 1 tbsp olive oil (for prawns and crumbs)
• 75g panko breadcrumbs
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 3 garlic cloves, finely sliced
• 1 lemon, zest and juice
• Buttered new potatoes, to serve
• Dressed green salad, to serve
• Fresh dill, to serve

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200°C fan (220°C conventional). Salt the pasta water generously — it should taste like the sea, and this is your only chance to season the pasta itself. Cook the macaroni to just under al dente, 1–2 minutes less than the pack says — it will finish cooking in the oven. Drain, keeping a mug of the cooking water back.
2. Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat, whisk in the flour and cook for a full minute until it smells biscuity — that's the raw flour cooking out. Pour the warmed milk in a steady stream, whisking constantly, and simmer 4–5 minutes until it coats the back of a spoon and a finger drawn through leaves a clean line. Whisk in the squash purée and Dijon until completely smooth, take off the heat, then stir through the cheddar and mozzarella until glossy. Season with salt and pepper, taste, and adjust now — a bland sauce can't be rescued at the table.
3. Pat the prawns dry on kitchen paper — water means steam, and steam means no sear. Season them with salt and pepper. Heat the olive oil in a stainless or cast-iron frying pan over high heat until shimmering, then lay the prawns in a single layer with the sliced garlic tucked between them. Don't crowd the pan — work in two batches if you need to, or you'll boil them grey. Sear for 1–2 minutes until the prawns curl and turn coral pink and the garlic is just pale gold and fragrant — 30 seconds is all garlic needs at this heat, and burnt garlic will turn the whole dish bitter. Pull the pan off the heat, grate over the lemon zest and add a squeeze of lemon juice — the acid cuts straight through the butter and cheese to come.
4. Tip the drained macaroni into the cheese sauce with a splash of the reserved pasta water and stir until every tube is coated and glossy. Fold through half the prawns with all their garlicky pan juices, then transfer to a medium ovenproof dish. Scatter the remaining prawns over the top so they sit proud of the sauce.
5. Toss the panko with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt — dry breadcrumbs bake to dust, oiled ones bake to crunch. Scatter evenly over the dish. Bake for 12–15 minutes until the crust is deep golden and the sauce is bubbling fiercely at the edges. Taste a corner of the sauce as it rests — one final pinch of salt if it needs it.
6. Rest for 2 minutes so the sauce settles into itself. Bring the dish to the table, scatter the chopped parsley generously over the golden crust, and tuck the lemon wedges around the edge for squeezing.