Bumper Macaroni Cheese

How time has flown since my last post! A lot has happened since then. Not only is The Emperor now sitting, but he is also crawling! He is growing bigger by the day... and so is his appetite. 

I am constantly on the lookout for new dishes for him to try so that he gets used to different ingredients and flavours. The taste of green vegetables can be a little off-putting for little people, but this cheesy combination seems to be a winner with my wee man. He gobbles this right up, spinach and all!

Bumper Macaroni Cheese

Recipe adapted from 'The Contented Little Baby Book of Weaning' by Gina Ford

Ingredients

100g soup pasta (I use Risoni)

25g unsalted butter

25g plain flour

350-400ml organic full-cream milk

75g fresh baby spinach

75g mild cheddar cheese, grated (I like to use as low salt a cheese as possible)

a pinch of ground nutmeg

a pinch of ground black pepper

Method

1. Cook the pasta in a saucepan of boiling water for 6-7 minutes until soft.

2. Meanwhile, melt the butter in a second saucepan, stir in the flour then gradually mix in 350ml milk and bring to the boil, stirring until thickened and smooth. If too thick, add a little more milk.

3. Drain the pasta into a sieve, rinse and dry the pan. Wash the spinach well, shake off most of the water, then add to the dried pan and cook for 1-2 minutes until just wilted.

4. Take the spinach out of the pan and stir into the milk sauce along with the grated cheese, nutmeg and pepper.

5. Blitz with a hand-held blender and stir the pasta through the cheese and spinach sauce. If it is too chunky for your baby's liking, you can always blitz it a little more.

Note: This dish does thicken upon standing, and especially after refrigeration, so you can loosen it again with a little boiled water if required.

Til next time, dear readers!

Ladybird xxx