Baked Macaroni

Ingredients

225 g. of macaroni (you can use penne or ziti as well)
3 tbsps. of butter
3 tbsps. of olive oil
1/4 kg. of ground beef (sirloin, if you want minimal fat)
1/4 kg. of smoked ham or bacon, or salami or pepperoni (sliced as thinly as you can)
1/4 kg. of fresh button mushrooms, sliced
1 kg. of tomatoes, chopped
1/4 kg. of onions, chopped
4-5 green or red bell peppers (or 6-8 pimientoes), cored and chopped
1 whole garlic, peeled and finely minced
1 c. of good meat broth
a bunch of fresh basil leaves, chopped, or about a teasponful of dried basil leaves
3 sprigs of fresh oregano, stripped, or 1 tsp. if dried oregano leaves
salt
pepper
sugar
For the topping :
1/3 c. of butter
1/3 c. of flour
about 3 c. of milk
half of a 225 g. block of
quickmelt (processed)
sharp cheddar cheese, grated
half of a 225 g. block of cream cheese (thanks to reader Rowena for this tip), softened then cut into small pieces
salt
pepper

Instructions

Cook the pasta according to package directions, undercooking by about 5 minutes. This will allow the pasta to finish cooking in the sauce, absorbing the flavors. Drain, rinse and set aside.
Heat the butter and olive oil together over medium-high heat in a sauce pan. Add the ground beef, breaking up the lumps. Add the garlic and cook until the meat starts to brown. Add the ham, bacon, salami or pepperoni. Stir and cook for a few minutes. Add all the chopped vegetables and herbs. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables start to soften. Pour in the meat broth. Season with salt, pepper and some sugar. The sugar will neutralize the acidity of the tomato paste. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
While the sauce simmers, prepare the cream-cheese topping.
Melt the butter in a saucepan.
When frothy, add the flour all at once, stirring. Let the flour cook for about 5 minutes to remove any floury taste in the cooked topping.
Usually, the flour is cooked when the mixture starts to turn golden brown.
Pour in the milk slowly, again, stirring as you pour. By the time all the milk has been incorporated into the mixture, it will appear to be a little thin.
Don’t worry, the cheeses will thicken them to the required consistency.
Add the cheeses.
Set the heat to low and let the cheeses melt, stirring the mixture occasionally.
Turn off the heat and season with salt and pepper.
Now, back to the meat sauce. When the sauce is done, add the cooked pasta and toss well. Let the mixture cook over low heat with an occasional stirring. This should allow the pasta to finish cooking. Usually, this step takes about 5-6 minutes.
Pour the pasta and sauce into a baking dish. Make sure that the dish is large enough so that the mixture is an inch below the rim. You will still be adding the topping. Everything will simmer and bubble during baking and you don’t want the sauce and topping falling onto the oven floor.
Pour the topping onto the pasta mixture, spreading to seal the edges. If you don’t seal the edges, the exposed pasta will dry up during baking.
Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 15 to 20 minutes or until the top is lightly browned. How brown depends on you. A well-browned topping is more aromatic and attractive but, if there are leftovers, the topping does have a tendency to get overbrowned during reheating.
Let the baked macaroni rest for about 10 minutes before cutting. Serve with garlic sticks or buttered toast.

Quick Notes

See readers’ versions of my baked macaroni here and here.

See photos from the many times I have made this baked macaroni for various occasions here, here and here.

Cooking time (duration): about an hour

Classic Beef Lasagne

INGREDIENTS:

600g lean beef mince
700g tub Latina™ Fresh Italian, Tomato & Garlic Sauce
375g pack Latina™ Fresh Lasagne Sheets
425g tub Latina™ Fresh Creamy Carbonara Sauce
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
Wild rocket leaves for serving

PROCEDURE:

Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan-forced oven). Brown beef in non-stick pan. Add tomato sauce and simmer for 10 minutes.

Spoon a little of the meat sauce into the base of a 28cm x 18cm ovenproof dish. Layer Lasagne sheet then a quarter of the meat sauce and a quarter of the carbonara sauce, repeat twice. Top with mozzarella.

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until pasta is tender and lasagne lightly browned. Serve topped with rocket.

Mighty meaty pasta with tomato cream sauce

Ingredients

225 g. of pasta (I suggest spaghetti, linguini or fettuccine), cooked al dente
For the sauce:
4 tbsps. of olive oil
250 g. of ground beef
250 g. of spicy sausages
1 large onion, chopped
2 c. of chopped tomatoes (I used canned)
3 sprigs of oregano
salt
pepper
sugar
1 c. of cream
To garnish:
grated cheese
chopped flat-leaf parsley or sweet basil

Instructions

Slit the skins of the sausages, peel off and discard. Pull the meat part into small pieces.
Heat the olive oil. Add the beef and sausage meat. Cook until no longer pink.
Add the chopped onion, stir and cook until the meat is lightly browned and the onion bits start to turn translucent.
No garlic? Whether or not garlic should be added depends on the kind of sausage you’re using. If using a spicy and garlicky variety, adding more garlic might be overkill. So, I’ll leave the garlic part to you.
Pour in the chopped tomatoes. Strip the oregano leaves off their stalks directly on top.
Stir. Season with salt, pepper and a bit of sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes. Bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.
Pour in the cream.
Stir and boil gently, uncovered to prevent curdling, for about a minute. Adjust the seasonings, if necessary.
To serve, place some cooked pasta on a plate or shallow bowl. Ladle a generous amount of sauce and meat over the noodles. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Garnish with parsley or basil.
Have a lovely meal.

Creamy Carbonara

Ingredients

2 cans Creamed of Mushroom Soup (preferably Campbell)
250 ml All Purpose Cream (Nestle)
200 grams sweet ham, in small squares
200 grams bacon, shredded
Spinach Fettucine (400 grams noodles are green and I like the contrast of the white creamy carbonara sauce against the green noodles)
1 head garlic
a dash of nutmeg
a dash of pepper
Olive Oil
1/2 cup parmesan cheese for topping

Preparation

1. Prepare the pasta (fettuccine noodles) based on instructions. Set Aside.

2. Fry the bacon until brown and not too crispy. Set Aside 1/4 for topping and the rest for the sauce.

3. In a sauce pan, saute garlic with olive oil. Add ham and 3/4 of the fried bacon.

4. Add the 2 cans of creamed mushroom soup with 2 cans of water.

5. Add the cream. Mix well.

6. Season with nutmeg and pepper.

7. If the bacon or ham you bought was too salty that it made the sauce salty as well, just mix in additional cream to neutralize the salty taste.

8. Serve the sauce and noodles separately. Top with bacon bits.