Macaroni cheese

This old classic is one my boys love - perfect nursery, comforting food just what is needed during lockdown, a dish that even the most amateur of cooks can master and definitely a dish on the university list! That is my excuse when I need help in the kitchen - everything is a learning opportunity, even washing the dishes. A great dish not just for dinner but also for weekend lunch when a bowl of warmth and a real treat is required. The quality of cheese is crucial to this dish, it needs to be really good-quality strong mature cheddar. Any milder will result in a bland anaemic dish. 

75g butter
75g flour
850ml full fat milk
225g grated mature cheddar
350g macaroni pasta
3 vine tomatoes sliced or cherry tomatoes halved
Fresh basil

1. Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Melt the butter, add flour and cook stirring constantly over a low heat for 5 minutes.
2. Add the milk and bring to the boil slowly, stirring all the time. Cook for 5 minutes, taking care it does not catch on the bottom, set aside. Sit in three-quarter of the cheese, keeping the rest for the top.
3. Cook the pasta until just done. Combine with the sauce and pour into a buttered ovenproof dish, top with the remaining cheese, arrange tomato slices on top and and bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until golden and bubbling. 
4. When it comes out of the oven scatter with lots of torn basil. 

Serve with a simple green salad.