Baked Macaroni And Cheese With Meat - cooking recipe

Ingredients

6 tbsp olive oil
2 None medium onions, peeled and chopped
1 kg beef or lamb mince
2 tbsp tomato puree
2 x 400 g cans plum tomatoes, drained, juice reserved, chopped
30 g fresh flat-leaf parsley, little reserved for garnish, remainder chopped
500 g macaroni
110 g butter
150 g Parmesan, grated
60 g plain flour
900 ml semi-skimmed milk
None None Pinch of grated nutmeg
4 None eggs

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400\u00b0F. Heat the oil in a frying pan and saute the onions until softened. Add the ground meat and cook until browned. Stir in the tomato puree, tomatoes and their juice. Season with salt and black pepper and add the parsley. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 20 mins. Allow to cool.
Meanwhile, cook the macaroni in boiling salted water for 10 mins. Drain and refresh with cold water. In a saucepan, melt 2 oz of butter and stir in 4 oz of cheese. Stir into the macaroni.
In a saucepan, melt the rest of the butter. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 mins. Gradually add the milk, still stirring constantly. Bring to a boil and simmer over medium heat for 5 mins, stirring occasionally. Season with salt, black pepper and nutmeg and remove from the heat.
In a bowl, beat 3 eggs and 1/4 cup of cold water. Stir into the bechamel sauce. In a separate bowl, beat 1 egg and stir in 1 oz of cheese. Stir into the ground meat mixture.
Grease a lasagna dish and spoon in half the macaroni. Next spoon over the meat mixture. Top with the remaining macaroni and spread over the bechamel sauce. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over. Bake for 40 mins. Garnish with parsley.