Baked Pasta

Assalamualaikum!!

(I am writing this while waiting to board the plane to Doha)

What can we make using these ingredients?

One of the perks of living alone is that you can cook something in a large portion and have that same food for the whole week! I know at a point you’ll be like..oh mannn, this food again? The only difference now you can’t blame your mum. :p

So I had some guests over last week and that is the same week that I had my final exam PLUS moving out. Before going back to Malaysia, I have to finish EVERYTHING in the frdge. I ahad some butter, some Edam cheese and some macaroni to get rid of. As usual I also have a can of tomato sauce on hand (it’s ALWAYS handy to have tomato sauce around. So I decided to make baked pasta. Yes. Nothing beats a steaming baked pasta with cheese melting on its sides . Oh yeah!(Okay that was a lie)

I got this recipe from my mum.You don`t have to worry about not having the perfect size of baking dish and what not.The beauty of this recipe is that everything is already cooked (although I do think 13 by 9 dish would work perfectly). Why bake it then? To melt the cheese of course!!Refer to top description. Oh yeah!*Johhny Bravo style*.

Baked Macaroni

2 cups of uncooked macaroni

1 cup of Edam/Monterey jack/mozzarella/Cheddar cheese

796 ml of canned Tomato Sauce

500g of ground beef

4 cloves of garlic, diced

1 onion, diced

Salt to taste

Olive oil

A table spoon of dried oregano/ Italian seasoning

1/4  cup butter

1 cup milk

3 tablespoon of flour

1/2 cup of bread crumbs

  

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degree Fahrenheit.
2. In a pot, put enough water to cover the macaroni , sprinkle a bit of salt to taste. Turn on the heat and let the macaroni cook.
3. In a pan, cook the ground beef. Let the water dry and the beef brown. (It’s a good idea to stir it once in a while to avoid the meat  from sticking to the pan, remember, don`t put any oil).Once cooked, set aside.
4. In a sauce pan, sautee the onion and garlic.
5. Add tomato sauce, and ground beef.
6. Once the sauce simmers, add salt and spices.
7. Stir in the macaroni and half cup of the cheese.
8. Again, wait for the sauce to simmer.
9. In a separate pan, make Béchamel sauce using the butter, milk and flour.Recipe here: Bechamel Sauce

To assemble

In an oven-safe dish, put in the macaroni.

Pour a generous layer of Bechamel sauce and the remaining cheese on top.

Cover the top with bread crumbs.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the cheese melts and slightly browned.

Since I only had ONE baking dish, I decided to use my spring foam as well.

And look at that! A baked pasta cake! It would be definitely cute for entertaining. You could simply cut it like a cake and top it with some chopped fresh oregano and Parmesan. Yum!

Bon Appetit

Sorry for the photos.Like I said, I had a final.I snapped these photos quickly before gobbling it all up.I.AM.SUCH.A.NERD...

Enjoy!

Wasalam.

Till then,Bonsoir et A Bientot Montreal!

Love,

Anggerik