Free Recipe for Thermomix · No-Dishes Dinners
Mac 'n' cheese that cooks, chills, grills and serves in the one silicone bowl, and leaves you a single teaspoon to wash.
This mac 'n' cheese is steamed in the Thermomix Varoma inside a Silicone Nesting Bowl, then chilled and grilled in that same bowl, so the only thing you wash up is a teaspoon. The single serve takes 30 minutes of steaming plus a minimum 3 hour chill, and the same recipe scales to feed two or four.
Oh this is going to be your new favourite. We are cooking a properly good macaroni cheese without creating a single cooking dish, well, except a teaspoon. Seriously. Everything goes into the Silicone Nesting Bowl, it steams in the Varoma inside that bowl, it grills still in that bowl, and it comes to the table in that bowl. Your mixing bowl and Varoma end up wet but not dirty, so just invert them on the Silicone Drying Mat to dry.
The recipe needs time in the fridge before grilling, which makes it a brilliant one to prep ahead. Start it whenever you have a spare minute, perhaps at night after dinner, then leave it in the fridge until you are ready to grill and serve, up to three days later. That is my idea of fast food.
The Silicone Nesting Bowls are the whole trick here. They are safe in the fridge, freezer, microwave, oven, air fryer, Varoma tray and slow cooker, they are endlessly reusable, and the four sizes store inside one another like a Babushka doll so they take up almost no cupboard space. You get all four sizes in the set, from 400ml up to 2.1L, which is why I have written this recipe three ways: one large serve, two, or four.
Meet the nesting bowls
One bowl cooks it, chills it, grills it and serves it
Silicone Nesting Bowls, Set of 4
Four sizes from 400ml to 2.1L, oven and Varoma safe, and they nest for storage.
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See the no-dishes trick in action
Here is a quick run through of exactly how it is done, from filling the bowl to grilling the top.
No-Dishes Mac 'n' Cheese in the Thermomix
Ingredients
For one large serve, in the watermelon bowl. Scaling table below.
Feeding one, two or four
Same method every time. Only the quantities, the water and the steam time change. Pick your bowl and read down the column.
| Watermelon 1 large serve |
Peach 2 large serves |
Limoncello 4 large serves |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| Macaroni pasta | 160g | 300g | 500g |
| Cream | 100g | 180g | 300g |
| Full-fat milk | 200g | 375g | 625g |
| Dijon mustard | 2 tsp | 1 tbsp | 1.5 tbsp |
| Fine salt | 3/4 tsp | 1.5 tsp | 2.5 tsp |
| Smoked paprika | 1/2 tsp | 1 tsp | 1.5 tsp |
| Grated cheese | 75g | 120g | 200g |
| Water in the mixing bowl | 700g | 800g | 900g |
| Steam time | 30 min | 35 min | 40 min |
| Grill time | 10 to 15 min | 15 to 20 min | 15 to 20 min |
One extra note on the biggest size: the limoncello bowl will not fit in the Varoma on its own, so for four serves you will also need the MaxiSteam Extender for Varoma, which adds 6cm of height and sits between the steaming tray and the lid.
The Tools
Silicone Nesting Bowls, Set of 4
The one vessel this whole recipe lives in, from Varoma to oven to table.
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Only needed for the four serve version, which will not fit without it.
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Fill the mixing bowl with 700g water. Place the lower steaming tray on top, insert the Stainless Steel Trivet, then sit the watermelon Silicone Nesting Bowl on the Trivet.
Add the pasta, cream, milk, mustard, salt and smoked paprika to the nesting bowl. There is no need to stir. Leave the lid off.
Put the steaming tray lid on and steam 30 min / steaming temperature / speed 3.
Add the cheese and stir really well, breaking up any clumps of pasta. Put the lid on the nesting bowl and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, and up to 3 days.
Ten to 15 minutes before you want to serve, take the lid off the nesting bowl and put it in the oven or air fryer at 180C. Grill until the top is golden and bubbling. If the top is golden but the pasta is not heated through yet, sit the lid loosely on top without sealing it down, so the top stops browning while the middle catches up.
To finish
Eat and enjoy, straight from the bowl it cooked in. I like mine with a touch of chilli oil on top.
Notes and tips
The chill is not optional. It is what lets the pasta drink up the sauce and hold together under the grill, so give it the full 3 hours even if you are in a hurry.
Do not stir before steaming. The pasta needs to sit in the liquid rather than be tossed through it, and stirring at that point just glues it together.
Any cheese combination works. Tasty gives you the flavour and mozzarella gives you the stretch, so a mix of the two is my favourite.
Your mixing bowl and Varoma come out wet, not dirty. Invert them on the Silicone Drying Mat and you are done.
Questions about this one
Can I really make this without dirtying any dishes?
Near enough. Everything is combined, steamed, grilled and served in the one nesting bowl, so the only thing that needs washing is the teaspoon you measured with. The mixing bowl and Varoma hold water rather than food, so they come out wet and go straight on the drying mat.
Can I make it ahead of time?
That is exactly what it is built for. Steam it and stir the cheese through whenever you have a spare moment, then keep it covered in the fridge for anywhere from 3 hours to 3 days and grill it just before you want to eat.
Which nesting bowl should I use?
The watermelon bowl for one large serve, the peach for two and the limoncello for four. The limoncello is the only one that needs the MaxiSteam Extender for Varoma to fit under the lid.
Oven or air fryer for the grilling?
Either, at 180C. Go by colour rather than the clock and pull it out when the top is golden and bubbling.
What if the top browns before the middle is hot?
Sit the bowl lid loosely on top without sealing it down. That shields the surface while the centre keeps heating through.
Want more dinners with this little washing up?
If one bowl dinners are your thing, the nesting bowls will earn their place in your kitchen every single week, and there is a whole cupboard of gear for Thermomix built around the same idea.
