I’m not normally a fan of St Delia’s recipes (she’s very patronising) but I when I spotted Souffléed Macaroni Cheese I couldn’t resist trying it out. I adore macaroni cheese and I was really intriegued by the souflee concept. Plus, I’ve never made souffle before, so it would also be a challenge!

After a quick dash to Waitrose for almost all the ingredients (not just the cheese, I didn’t have butter or an onion either!), I started to prep all the ingredients. At which point I reminded myself how lethal a microplane grater can be. Ouch!

Having chopped, grated and weighed out absolutely everything it was time to actually start cooking. I baulked at St Delia’s first instruction to put a measured amount of water in a large saucepan for boiling the pasta. WTF??? Surely I can judge how much water to put in a pan? So I did. Oh, and I preheated the oven too. After much muttering about impossibly bossy recipes, I started making the sauce. And then baulked at another instruction. Its perfectly possible to make a white sauce without using a balloon whisk to make it smooth. I’ve made plenty of white sauces in my time without having to resort to a balloon whisk! Plus – I needed the whisk for the eggwhites later on. So, I ignored St Delia and carried on regardless. Nary a non-onion lump did I find in my sauce, and no lightning bolts sizzled me, so all was well. Once all the cheese and egg was added the sauce did look rather yummy, smelt good too.

The pasta cooked beautifully, despite my earlier heresy. It did look quite a small amount but since it was only half-cooked it would still have a tiny bit of expansion to do in the oven. After tipping the cheese sauce over the pasta I gave it a really good stir before gently folding in the beaten egg whites.

I poured it into the hot buttered baking dish and found to my pleasure that it began to souffle immediately! You could see the mixture start to set and brown at the sides. Plus, it fitted perfectly into my dish! I quickly sprinkled the reserved parmesan over the top and popped it back into the oven.

After 12 minutes of anxious pacing around the kitchen, I opened the oven to find a very souffleed macaroni cheese! The souffle had risen a good inch from the top of the dish and looked fantastic. I did manage to leave a good corner of souffle on the top of the oven whilst I was trying to wrestle the dish out. Oddly, the outside of the dish had become rather slick.

In more good news, the souffle did not sink once I took it out and didn’t seem to sink once it was served. And it tasted gooood. Next time I’d add a pinch more salt – still a resounding success though. And the best part? My souffle rose higher than Delia’s!!!

Souffled Macaroni Cheese

Serves 2:

175g macaroni
75g mascarpone
50g Gruyere
50g Parmigiano Reggiano
25g butter
onion
25g plain flour
275ml milk
nutmeg
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites

Boil the macaroni until just undercooked.
Soften onions in butter then add flour then make a white sauce.
Add nutmeg to sauce, cook gently for 5 mins.
Off the heat, whisk in the mascarpone, yolks, Gruyere and half the Parmesan.
Whisk egg whites to soft peaks.
Stir pasta into cheese sauce and mix well.
Lightly fold in egg whites using a cutting and folding movement.
Put in warmed 20×15cm buttered dish.
Cook at gas mark 6 for 12 minutes till fluffy and brown.