Cheese and Marmite Popcorn

Popcorn is all the rage at the moment and it’s for good reason – it’s cheap, filling, low calorie, AND it’s delicious. There are now dozens of companies selling popcorn in shops and cafes in all manner of flavours, but it’s a LOT cheaper to make your own at home. You can pop popcorn in three ways – either with a popcorn maker, a large lidded saucepan on a hob, or in a large pyrex bowl in the microwave. I don’t have a popcorn maker, so I’m going to tell you how to do it on the hob and in the microwave.

Marmite and cheese is one of my all time favourite combinations. It’s an amazing combination of strong flavours and makes this popcorn ridiculously moreish. It’s got cheese and butter in it, so it’s not very low calorie but I would say it’s worth it!

For a medium bowl of popcorn that will serve 2-3 people, you need:

• 75g popcorn kernels
• 100g strong mature cheddar
• 1 dessert spoon of marmite
• 40g (or a large knob) of butter
• some oil

1. Before you start with the popcorn, grate your cheese – preferably with a fine grater so you get small strands.
2. If you’re popping on the stove, simply coat the bottom of a large saucepan with a quality oil (I use rapeseed) and warm on a medium heat. Don’t get it too hot or they will just burn. Add in your popcorn and put the lid on. You can use as much popcorn as you like, but I would make sure you don’t have them more than one kernel deep. With the lid firmly on, give the pan a shake to move the kernels around a bit. They will start to pop within a minute or two. Let them pop and don’t take the lid off, but do give them a shake every 20 seconds or so to keep them from burning. When they’re fully popped, transfer them to a large bowl.
3. If you’re popping in the microwave, just pop a tablespoon of oil in the bottom and add in your kernels. Microwave on high for 2-5 mins. They take a fair bit of time to start popping so don’t panic if it takes longer. They will start eventually – leave them in there until the pops are 3-4 seconds apart. Remove and transfer into a large bowl.
4. Now that you have a large bowl of fresh, warm popcorn, put your butter and marmite in a mug, cover with clingfilm and microwave for 30 seconds. It will get hot very quickly, so be careful. Take out carefully and mix with a teaspoon until the butter and marmite are well mixed up.
5. Pour over the popcorn and mix immediately to coat the popcorn. Add the cheese on top and keep mixing with a large spoon. If you do it all quickly enough, the popcorn will be warm enough to melt the cheese so you have a ridiculously delicious cheesey, marmitey, melty bowl of popcorn.
6. Scoff IMMEDIATELY whilst warm! :)

Enjoy!