Baked Macaroni Recipe

Baked Macaroni is a pasta dish that makes use of elbow macaroni as the primary ingredient. At first look, this could be mistaken as the famous Macaroni and Cheese but there is more to this dish than just having pasta and cheese. Meat is one of its most important components. Ground beef is usually used but others prefer ground pork, ground chicken, and even minced ham. Being a tomato based pasta, Baked Macaroni uses diced tomatoes (or tomato sauce) and tomato paste as well. Capsicum (or bell pepper) and paprika are optionally added to add more flavor and aroma. The description above makes a regular Baked Macaroni but adding the Mornay sauce (or white sauce as we usually call it) makes it more special. This is a cheese and milk sauce made by combining a roux with milk and adding parmesan and gruyere cheese (or sharp cheddar if gruyere is not available). Then youll have rich and creamy pasta ready for baking. Try this Baked Macaroni recipe.

Baked Macaroni Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb uncooked elbow macaroni

Meat Sauce:

3 tbsp butter 1 lb ground beef 1 cup diced tomatoes (canned) 1 small onions, diced 1/2 cup green bell pepper, diced 1/2 cup tomato paste

1 tsp paprika 1 piece beef cube 1 cup water 1 tbsp sugar Salt and pepper to taste

Mornay Sauce:

3 tbsp butter 3 tbsp all-purpose flour 2 cups fresh milk 1/4 tsp salt 1 ounce grated parmesan cheese 2 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese

Watch the cooking video: Cooking Procedure 1. Prepare the elbow macaroni according to instructions in the package and intentionally cut the cooking time so that the macaroni is not well done (the macaroni will be fully cooked once baked) then drain and set aside. 2. Prepare the meat sauce by heating a cooking pot and melt-in the butter. 3. When the butter is hot enough, add the ground beef and cook for 5 minutes or until the color turns medium brown. 4. Add the onion, green bell pepper, and diced tomatoes then stir and simmer for 3 minutes or until the vegetables are soft. 5. Add the tomato paste and paprika then stir and cook for a minute 6. Add the beef cube and water then stir until everything is well distributed. Simmer for 20 minutes. 7. Put-in the sugar, salt, and pepper then mix well. Turn of the heat and set aside. 8. Prepare the Mornay sauce by melting the butter in a sauce pan over medium heat. 9. Add the flour stir constantly for about a minute (color must be yellowish and not brown). 10. Slowly whisk in the milk and continue to whisk until the sauce thickens and comes to a boil. 11. Add salt and pepper then simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. 12. Stir in the cheeses and whisk until melted. Set aside 13. Combine the cooked macaroni and meat sauce in a baking dish then toss until the meat sauce is well distributed. 14. Arrange the macaroni and pour the Mornay sauce over it. (Spread the Mornay sauce over the macaroni and meat sauce mixture ensuring that every space is covered) 15. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes. 16. Remove from the oven and allow to cool down a bit. 17. Serve hot. Share and Enjoy! Number of servings (yield): 8

Positive feedbacks keep coming-in as a result of the different fried chicken recipes that we featured to date. Along with it are requests for a good gravy recipe to compliment the fried chicken. There isnt any good gravy recipe that I can think of other than KFCs so I tried whipping-up some ingredients to arrive at the closest copycat KFC Gravy recipe (in my opinion) using basic ingredients that should be available in your local supermarket. While trying to browse the internet on this topic, I discovered several KFC gravy recipes that claim to be the closest. Though it might be true, these recipes require the use of canned beef gravy plus many other ingredients which I think is not practical at all. I find it unreasonable to use ready mix or canned gravy to arrive at another gravy variation, dont you? Saving money is also an important factor; if there is a recipe that will cost less and still give me the taste that Im looking for why wouldnt I go for it? This gravy recipe that we have here works well with fried chicken and mashed potatoes. If you are one of those who think that gravy is some kind of soup, slurping this or mixing it with rice will work too. Try this KFC Style Gravy recipe and let me know what you think.

KFC Style Gravy Recipe

Ingredients

3 tablespoons butter or vegetable shortening 5 tablespoons all-purpose flour 1 piece chicken cube or 2 teaspoons chicken powder 1 piece beef cube or 2 teaspoons beef powder 2 1/4 cups water

Cooking Procedure
1.Dilute the beef and chicken cubes in water. 2.Heat a saucepan and put-in the butter. Let the butter melt under low heat.

3.Add 2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour and cook in low heat while continuously stirring for 7 to 8 minutes or until the color turns medium brown. There is a tendency that the flour might burn when overcooked or if high heat is applied. Be extra cautious. 4.Add the remaining flour and continue stirring. 5.Gradually add the chicken and beef broth (the result of procedure 1) while stirring. Continuous stirring is needed to prevent lumps from forming. 6.Put the heat to medium and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes more while stirring once in a while until the texture thickens. 7.Serve hot with fried chicken or mashed potato. 8.Share and enjoy! Number of servings (yield): 4

Homemade Mashed Potatoes

Finally, the 10 lbs of potatoes were consumed and we now have the 4th recipe derived out of it. I did not imagine that a $2 bag of potatoes would go such a long way. We were able to make the homemade potato chips, crispy French fries, potato and leek soup, and here we are with our homemade mashed potatoes. Everyone knows what homemade mashed potatoes are. I think that a formal description is not necessary but did you know that Mashed Potato is also a dance popularized during 1962 to the mid 60s? I was not born yet during that time but I heard that the moves are pretty cool. This homemade mashed potatoes recipe resembles the ones that you find in restaurants and top food joints. The ingredients are common, the procedure is simple, and the taste is awesome. Try it yourself oh, and make sure you top it with KFC Style gravy for a double awesome experience. Try this Homemade Mashed Potato Recipe

Homemade Mashed Potato Recipe

Ingredients

2 lbs baking potatoes, peeled and cubed 3/4 cup fresh milk 3 tablespoons butter, melted 2 teaspoons salt 3 to 4 cups of water

Cooking Procedure
1.Combine potatoes, 1 teaspoon salt, and water in a cooking pot and bring to a boil. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender. 2.Turn off the heat and drain the water by placing the potatoes in a colander. 3.Transfer the potatoes in a large mixing bowl then add the remaining 1 teaspoon of salt. Mash using an electric mixer. You may also use fork or potato ricer for this procedure. 4.Pour-in the melted butter then mix again until everything is well incorporated.

5.Gradually add the fresh milk while mixing; continue mixing until all the ingredients are well distributed. 6.Transfer to a serving plate and top with KFC Style Gravy. 7.Serve. Share and enjoy! Number of servings (yield): 4