Mac & Cheese with Crispy Breadcrumbs

Ingredients

• 1 tsp salt (for the pasta water)
• 400g elbow macaroni
• 50g plain flour
• 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 500ml whole milk
• 150ml double cream
• 50g unsalted butter
• 200g mature cheddar, grated
• 50g parmesan, finely grated
• 1 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg (optional)
• 100g fresh breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped (optional)
• Crusty bread, to serve
• Simple green salad, to serve
• Creamy coleslaw, to serve

Method

1. Steam the butternut squash chunks for 12–15 minutes, until a knife slides through with no resistance — any firmness left and the purée will be grainy in the sauce. Blitz smooth with a stick blender, or mash hard with a fork until silky. Set aside.
2. Bring a large pan of water to the boil and salt it generously — it should taste like the sea. This is your only chance to season the pasta itself. Cook the macaroni for 1–2 minutes less than the packet says; it finishes in the oven and you don't want mush. Drain, but don't rinse.
3. Melt the butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat, scatter in the flour and stir for 1–2 minutes until it smells biscuity and looks pale gold — you're cooking the raw flour out, not browning it. Pour the milk in slowly, whisking constantly, then the cream, and keep going until the sauce is glossy and coats the back of a spoon.
4. Whisk the squash purée through the sauce until it's a uniform deep gold. Pull the pan off the heat — and this matters, because cheese added to a boiling sauce splits and turns grainy. Beat in the cheddar and parmesan a handful at a time, letting each go silky before the next.
5. Season with the Dijon, Worcestershire, nutmeg if using, the black pepper, and a good pinch of salt. Taste it now — really taste it. Cheese sauces need more salt than you think; adjust until it tastes properly savoury, not just rich. Adjust now, not at the table.
6. Fold the drained macaroni through the sauce so every elbow is coated, then tip into a lightly buttered 20–25cm oven dish and smooth the top. You want it loose and saucy at this stage — it tightens in the oven.
7. Toss the breadcrumbs with the olive oil in a bowl until every crumb is glossy and just damp; dry crumbs scorch, oily crumbs go evenly bronze. Scatter over the pasta in an even layer and add the parsley if using.
8. Bake at 200°C (fan 180°C) for 20–25 minutes, until the crumbs are deep golden and the sauce is bubbling fiercely at the edges. Rest for 5 minutes so the sauce settles and stops sliding.
9. Spoon into bowls and bring the crusty bread, green salad, and coleslaw to the table — the bread for mopping the dish, the salad and slaw cutting through the richness alongside.