It’s not really macaroni cheese in the traditional sense. But that’s what my kids call it. In fact, you can use any type of pasta you like. Problem was that my kids would eat the old ‘mac n’cheese’ in a restaurant, but the minute I suggested pasta and cheese sauce at home, like the one in the restaurant, the idea was rejected outright. When I made pasta and cheese sauce at home but called it macaroni cheese, they ate it happily.

I often find that if you find the right combination of words, the food can seem more appealing. Bizarrely. But, I digress.

So, we call it ‘mac and cheese’. And its still eaten by my kids in restaurants, thankfully. Except that the restaurant does not contain my secret ingredients, which are cauliflour and white fish (any white fish). Cheese is an excellent form of protein, but the fish gives it a bit more. So here goes and good luck.

Start by making a white sauce, which will be the base of your cheese sauce.

I often use this recipe –

25g white flour

25g butter

150mls milk.

Cauliflour heads (I normally use about 8, but your choice how much)

White fish (I would normally use 1-2 frozen fillets but it’s your choice)

Grated cheese

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Put a saucepan on to boil and cook up some heads of cauliflour until soft.

In a small saucepan poach the fish in the milk until soft . Remove the fish and set aside.

In the meantime, melt the butter over a low heat, add the flour, mix well and leave to cook a few minutes.

Pour in the poaching milk to the butter and flour mixture and (ideally with a whisk to remove lumps) stir. When it thickens you have your sauce. Feel free to add some nutmeg or cinnamon but beware they leave little specks. Mine notice this immediately. Obviously.

Add the fish and the cauliflour to the white sauce and blend either with a hand blender or with magimix. Finally add a LOT of cheese. This will mask any taste of fish (which somehow it doesn’t taste of anyway) and cauliflour.

You could add a final sprinkling of cheese and grill for a minute to form a crust.

Serve over pasta and hope for the best.

TIP: If you are able to find the tricolore pasta, often they contain spinach and tomato powder. Let’s be realistic and suggest probably not that much, but certainly better than nothing if your kids will eat it.