The other night, while waiting for load shedding to kick in, I came across an episode of The Pioneer Women of the Food Network channel.

I only actually managed to watch the first recipe before Eskom decided enough was enough and they tripped the lights.

When the power came on, the episode was finished and the show isn’t on catch up so, I was a stuck between a rock and a hard place trying to get this recipe.

Have no fear when you have google.

The downside to this recipe, it required me to go to the store during peak hour traffic to buy a bottle of parmesan cheese. This cheese is so difficult to come by, You would think that most recipes require this cheese, Spar would stock it… of course not and the only place that does seem to stop it is Checkers and during rush hour that place is a night mare, and the worst queue to stand in is the express till. It always always happens to be the line that snakes right out in the fresh produce section… that is just how long the wait is.

After battling the throngs of people pushing and shoving and screaming across me to the person standing on the other side of me, I managed to get out of Checkers in one piece with my loot.

I was really excited to try out this recipe but because of Eskom I had to patiently wait 10 hours to make it. 10 hours you may ask, simple. Load shedding started off at stage 2 from 10:00 till 12 and then it increased to stage 3 and then 4 and it was supposed to go on at 2pm but them the substation that we are connected to tripped and when the managed to restore the power it was time for load shedding all over again and I was in darkness literally the entire day. The only meal that I ate that was hot was this as a midnight snack.

The verdict… mmm… yummy delicious and soo warm and comforting thanks to all the cheese that melts and becomes gooey and string. I am not a fan of broccoli, but I ate it and I loved it.

This dish also gave me the opportunity to try out my new pasta pot that is just like Ree’s and I did exactly like her, while boiling the pasta, I made the sauce and then just lifted the built in strainer in the pasta pot and tossed the pasta into the sauce and hey presto no more sticking together pasta. And no battling with the plastic strainer, those things are a nightmare to clean when cold. Enough the one aunty complained about my 13 year old well used muffin tins if she should see my strainer she will most likely freak out.

Ingredients:

• 4 x tbsp. butter.
• 1 x pound elbow macaroni, cooked.
• 1 x celery stalk, finely diced.
• ½ x head broccoli, cut into tiny florets.
• 1 x onion, finely chopped.
• 2 x tbsp. cake flour.
• 1 x tsp mustard powder.
• 2 x cups milk.
• 1 x cup vegetable broth.
• ¼ x cup cream.
• 2 ½ x cups cheddar cheese, grated.
• 1 x cup gouda cheese, cubed.
• 1 x cup parmesan cheese, grated.
• Salt and black pepper to season.
• ½ x cup bread crumbs, mixed with some parmesan cheese.

Method:

• Melt butter in a pot.
• Add onion, celery and broccoli and cook till the onions are soft.
• Sprinkle in the flour and mustard powder.
• Give it a good stir to coat everything.
• Add in the milk, cream and broth, stir and allow the mixture to come to the boil.
• Add in the cheeses and seasoning and simmer on a low heat till all the cheese has melted.
• Mix in the cooked macaroni.
• Give it a good toss and pour into a greased oven proof dish.
• Sprinkle over the cheese and bread crumb mixture.
• Pop into a preheated oven and bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.