Macaroni and Ground Meat Casserole
Ingredients
- For assembling
- 400 grams macaroni
- For the meat sauce
- 400 grams Ground meat
- 1 onion (finely chopped)
- 1 garlic clove
- 1 Tbsp clarified butter
- 125 milliliters dry Red wine
- salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 2 carrots (peeled, very finely diced)
- ½ Fennel bulb (trimmed, very finely diced)
- 1 sm can peeled Tomatoes
- 1 bay leaf
- For the bechamel sauce
- 1 Tbsp butter
- 2 Tbsps Pastry flour
- 300 milliliters milk
- salt
- freshly ground pepper
- Nutmeg
- 80 milliliters Whipped cream
- 100 grams Parmesan (freshly grated)
Preparation steps
Cook the pasta in plenty of salted boiling water until al dente. Drain pasta. Cook ground meat until brown and crumbled. Add vegetables and bay leaf and continue cooking for a few minutes. Add wine and canned tomatoes, including juice. Raise heat to high and cook until liquid has evaporated. Remove bay leaf and season with salt and pepper.
For the béchamel sauce: In a pan, melt butter. Stir in flour and cook for a few minutes. Gradually whisk in milk. Season with salt, pepper and nutmeg. Continue cooking, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to low and stir in cream and 1 tablespoon Parmesan. Fill a buttered baking dish with half of the pasta. Spread meat mixture over pasta, and sprinkle with half of cheese. Layer with remaining noodles and pour in béchamel sauce. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake in a preheated oven (200°C or approximately 400°F) until top is brown, about 25 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.
