Classic old-school macaroni cheese - Waitrose

- An easy recipe for a classic dish packed full of flavour. This is likely to become a firm favourite as it's cheap to make too.
This recipe is from 'Virgin to Veteran: How to Get Cooking with Confidence' by Sam Stern, published by Quadrille Publishing.
Serves 6
Prepare 1 hour
Cook 30 minutes
INGREDIENTS:
1 onion, halved
6 black peppercorns
850ml whole milk
225g macaroni
50g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
50g plain flour
2 tsp English mustard
2 tsp lemon juice
200g mature cheddar, grated
Dash Worcestershire sauce
50g white breadcrumbs
½ garlic clove, crushed
Small handful chopped flat leaf parsley
½ lemon, zest
METHOD:
1. Start by making the cheese sauce: put the onion, peppercorns and milk in a pan and heat until small bubbles form around the edge of the milk. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cook the macaroni according to pack instructions; drain and set aside. Sieve the infused milk and discard all but the milk; set aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 200˚C, gas mark 6. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. Add the flour and stir, with a wooden spoon, for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually stir the infused milk into the paste until smooth.
3. Return to the heat and stir until the mixture boils and thickens, adding a splash more milk if necessary. Lower the heat and gently simmer for 5 minutes. Stir in the mustard, lemon juice, cheese and Worcestershire sauce; season. Mix the pasta with the sauce and tip into a buttered ovenproof dish (about 1.5 litres).
4. For the topping, mix the breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley and lemon zest and scatter over the dish. Bake for 25--30 minutes, until bubbling and golden.
Per serving 504kcals/19.6g protein/48g carbs/7.4g sugars/27.2g fat/16.8g saturated fat/2.1g fibre/1g salt