Real comfort food at its finest, and a great way to use up some leftover Mac n Cheese from the fridge. Great as a starter or a sharer/snack with a beer or two! These little morsels won't hang around long. I serve them with my Marinara sauce and some more grated cheese to add to the flavour profile and cut through the richness of the fried mac n cheese.
You can use any leftover Mac n Cheese to make these really, but make sure it's cold and from the fridge as it helps you to make them into the right shape. I typically use this recipe for my Mac n Cheese, but feel free to use any you want to.
Ingredients:
Leftover Mac n Cheese - see my recipe here!
Marinara Sauce - see my recipe here!
Plain Flour
Panko Breadcrumbs
Mature Cheddar Cheese or Parmesan (for grating)
Fresh Basil (to garnish)
Olive Oil (to garnish)
Rock Salt
Black Pepper
Method:
Make sure your leftover Mac n Cheese has been in the fridge for a while so it's nice and cold, this will help you to form it into the right shape. Take this out of the fridge and set up your breading station.
To a large bowl add a few cups of flour, and a cup or so of cold water, and whisk this until it's smooth. You want this mix so it's not too thick but not really thin, it needs to be able to coat and stick to the Mac n Cheese bites before they go into the Panko Breadcrumbs, which will help the Panko stick to the Mac n Cheese Bites. Season the flour and water mixture with a little rock salt and black pepper and set aside.
Take another large bowl or tub and fill it with some Panko Breadcrumbs, finally, grate some Mature cheddar Cheese or Parmesan into a small bowl.
To assemble your Mac N Cheese bites, take a handful of your cold Mac n Cheese and form into a golf ball-sized shape, making sure it's pressed in well and isn't falling apart. A good tip here is to make sure your hands are warm! Roll these in the grated cheddar/parmesan, then dip into your flour/water mix, making sure they are well coated, and then finally roll in the Panko Breadcrumbs again ensuring they are coated well.
Place these onto a baking tray or some greaseproof paper as you go, until they are all ready, then either use a deep fat fryer or heat up some vegetable/sunflower oil in a pan to 180c. Fry the Mac n Cheese balls at 180c for 5-8 mins until they float and are nicely golden brown.
To Serve:
Take your Marinara sauce and pop a dollop onto the plate, drizzle with a little olive oil, finely chop some fresh basil and scatter over. Pop 2-3 Mac n Cheese bites on top, season with rock salt and then grate some Mature cheddar or Parmesan over the top. Bellissimo!
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