Rich and Gooey Double-Cheese Gratin

Leaving the spinach in its bag, cut off the roots, trimming a little more than usual. Put it in a bowl and wash it thoroughly, gripping the root ends and scrubbing to remove any dirt.

Roughly chop the spinach into easy-to-eat pieces about 5cm long, put them in a clean bowl, and soak in water for 5-10 minutes.

Remove the skin from the chicken thigh and cut it into bite-sized pieces, slightly smaller than you would for karaage.

Put the cut chicken thigh in a frying pan, then turn on the heat for a cold start and cook over medium heat. Season generously with 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and once it starts to turn white, flip it over and cook both sides.

At the same time, start bringing about 1L of water to a boil in a pot. The macaroni takes 9 minutes to cook, so get it ready early.

Drain the soaked spinach in a colander and add it to the frying pan with the chicken. Turn the heat up slightly and stir-fry to cook off the moisture, combining it with the chicken until it wilts down completely. Once everything is well mixed, transfer it to a separate plate.

In the now-empty frying pan, add 50g of butter, 500ml of milk, and 3 tablespoons of cake flour all at once, and whisk to disperse the flour and make the white sauce.

Add 1 teaspoon of salt to the boiling water and start boiling 200g of macaroni for 9 minutes. Give it a quick stir so it doesn't stick to the bottom. You can also turn off the heat partway, cover, and let the residual heat finish cooking it.

Keep stirring the white sauce over low heat, and once it thickens, switch from the whisk to a spatula and stir everything together. When it becomes smooth and creamy, turn off the heat since it burns easily.

Add the cheese to the white sauce with the heat off. Use cheddar cheese as the main one, setting aside about 1/4 of the total for the topping. Stir slowly and let the residual heat melt the cheese.

Drain the cooked macaroni in a colander and check that there is no hard core left. Put the frying pan of cheesy white sauce over medium heat, add the macaroni along with the reserved chicken and spinach, and stir everything together while heating.

Pour it into a gratin dish and sprinkle the reserved cheese over the top. Bake on the upper rack of an oven preheated to 220°C for 15 minutes until nicely browned.