Tiffin Treats – Baked Macaroni And Cheese

Preparing my son’s evening tiffin/dinner meals is always a challenging task. I have had numerous requests for tiffin varieties for toddlers and children and they all voice the same opinion – we need variety, variety or more variety of healthy and delicious tiffins/meals!

Yesterday, I prepared a cheesy macaroni casserole for Nehal, a recipe I adapted from Sanjeev Kapoor’s cookery show. Easy to prepare – a lively merger of sauteed onions, capsicum, garlic and tomatoes, combined with boiled macaroni, topped with white sauce, garnished with cheese and finally baked to perfection. A comforting hearty casserole sure to get your child asking for more.

1 Cook macaroni in salted rapidly boiling water until al dente, drain and keep aside.
2 Heat olive oil in a vessel, add the onions, capsicum and crushed garlic and saute till transparent. Add the chopped tomato and salt.
3 Cook for 8-10 mts, stirring once in a while. Add the boiled corn and combine.
4 While the onion-tomato base cooks, prepare the white sauce. Heat a pan, on low flame, add the butter and let it melt. Add maida and keep stirring using a hand whisk over a low flame till well blended. Slowly add the milk, stirring continuously. Next add the grated cheese. On medium heat continue to stir until you have a nice smooth consistency sauce. Once in a while, remove the vessel away from the heat for a few seconds and place it back while stirring. Season with salt and pepper. Keep aside.
5 Next add the boiled macaroni to the cooked onion-tomato base and toss for 2-3 minutes stirring well to coat. Adjust salt, season with freshly ground pepper, mustard pwd and sprinkle some grated cheese. Turn off heat.
6 Remove macaroni onto a baking dish and spoon the prepared white sauce along the edges of the dish. Garnish with grated cheese. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200 degrees C for 10 mts.