Double denim mac ’n’ cheese

Servings:

For an extra pop of asparagus-y flavour ontop, rather than the hazelnut butter, try sprinkling liberally with my woody ends pangrattato.

Remember when Justin and Britney were dating, and went to the MTV Video Music Awards wearing double double denim? Well, between his hair and her surname, I bring you this dish. Often, mac ’n’ cheese recipes are let down by too many steps (I’m looking at you, béchamel sauce), so what I love about this one is that the only thing standing between you and a bowl of oozy deliciousness studded with sumptuous asparagus spears is how long it takes to boil the pasta. If you don’t have time to fuss around with cooking the vegies, chop the asparagus into fine discs and toss into the colander just before draining the pasta water through it; this will cook the asparagus just enough to take the raw edge off. You can also grate some of the cauliflower curd through the cooked pasta just before turning off the heat and draining. Pouring plenty of boiling water over a cupful or two of frozen peas in a bowl is another option.

Ingredients

▢ 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) macaroni (or gluten-free pasta)
▢ 3-4 bunches of asparagus, about 600 g (1 lb 5 oz) in total
▢ ½ head of cauliflower with leaves
▢ 100 g (3½ oz) butter
▢ 300 g (10½ oz) Comté (or gruyère or cheddar) grated
▢ 250 g (9 oz) parmesan grated
▢ olive oil for drizzling

Bonus beurre noisette

▢ 80 g (2 ¾ oz) butter
▢ 1 handful of raw or roasted hazelnuts

Instructions

Grab your largest pot, fill it three-quarters full of water, add plenty of salt and bring to a vigorous boil. Add the macaroni, setting a timer for 3 minutes before the packet says the pasta will be ready.
Meanwhile, snap the woody ends off the asparagus and reserve them, then slice the spears into bite-sized pieces. Chop the cauliflower into fork-sized florets, and the stalks into bite-sized pieces. Cut the leaves to forkful size and reserve.
Melt the butter in a large non-stick saucepan.
When your timer goes off, pop the cauliflower into the pasta pot, then reset the timer for another 2 minutes. When the timer goes off again, in go the asparagus spears, then reset the timer for 1 minute more. Scoop out and reserve a mugful of pasta water, then carefully pour the asparagus, cauliflower and pasta mixture into a colander to drain.
To make the beurre noisette, pop the reserved asparagus ends and cauliflower leaves in the emptied pasta pot with the butter and hazelnuts. Allow to bubble away and brown over medium heat until the pot smells like you’re baking cookies in it. Reserve for garnish.
Meanwhile, sprinkle all the Comté and about 200 g (7 oz) of the parmesan into the other saucepan of melted butter, then add the cooked pasta, vegies and mugful of reserved pasta water. Stir until everything combines into one glorious oozy mess. Season to taste with salt and plenty of cracked black pepper.
Scoop out the brown butter mix across the mac ’n’ cheese. Sprinkle each serving bowl with the remaining parmesan, another couple of cracks of black pepper, drizzle with a glug of olive oil and serve.

Notes

Double duty

Store your leftovers in an ovenproof dish, so that all you have to do the next day is sprinkle panko or rice crumbs on top, glug with olive oil, finish with some grated parmesan and reheat at 180°C (350°F) for 10 minutes or so.

Recipe from In Praise of Veg (Murdoch Books)