Macarona Bechamel
Macarona Bechamel
If you’re wondering what Macarona Bechamel is, let me paint you a picture. Imagine, a cross between a gloriously ‘Mac & Cheese’ and a wonderfully rich Lasagne. That is to say the ultimate baked ‘Mac & Cheese’ with a layer of delicious meat sauce incorporated into it. Can you imagine what a comfort food that would be? Well that’s Macarona Bechamel.
There are several different recipes for this dish, some much better than others. This is the very best of them.
The quality of the meat you use for the sauce really does affect the end result. So, for the minced beef, I recommend a good quality mince, preferably not extra lean mince because the fat holds so much of the flavour and richness.
Ingredients
For the meat sauce
- 300g minced beef
- 1 tbsp oil
- 2 onions – finely chopped
- 4 large tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 red or green pepper – finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic – finely chopped
- 2 beef stock cubes grated
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- ½ tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
For the white sauce
- 1L milk
- 1 chicken stock cube
- 1 tbsp butter
- ½ cup corn flour
- 200g cheese – grated (optional)
For the pasta
- 600g macaroni – you can use regular macaroni or penne is another good option
- a little cooking oil
- water
- salt
Method
Start off by making the meat sauce for your Macarona Bechamel
Heat a large pan over a high flame.
First brown the meat
Add the oil and allow the pan to really heat up before adding the minced beef.
Don’t stir!
Spread the meat out as much as you can. You want it to brown.
Don’t stir the meat for the first few minutes because this will stop it from browning. Just let it sit flat in the pan until it begins to brown.
If you stir the mince it will it will releas its juices and it will begin to boil rather than brown so be warned!
Add the onions
Once the meat has browned add the onions.
When they begin to brown, add the tomatoes and the remaining ingredients for the meat sauce.
Bring the mix to the boil and then reduce the heat and allow the sauce to simmer for about 20 minutes whilst you prepare the pasta and milk sauce.
Cook the macaroni
You could cook the macaroni as per the instructions on the packet which is quick and easy.
But I recommend cooking it using the Egyptian method. It’s a little more involved but it introduces an extra depth of flavour right from the start. The pasta is then no longer just a vehicle to carry the sauce which has the flavour. Instead, it has its own flavour and the sauce simply enhances and embellishes it, which is quite different.
Make pasta the Egyptian way as follows:-
Boil a kettle of water.
Start off by frying the pasta to seal it
Sealing the pasta stops the starch from leaching into the water. This means you don’t need to drain the water off afterwards. If the pasta wasn’t sealed, you would end up with a pot something resembling wallpaper paste if you didn’t drain the liquid.
Put a little oil into a large pan and heat it over a high flame.
Tip the macaroni into the pan and stir it well to coat all the pasta in a little oil.
Stirring continuously, fry the macaroni until it begins to brown.
Pour boiling water over the macaroni until it’s only just covered.
Grate 2 stock cubes into the water and stir well.
Boil for 10 minutes stirring regularly to ensure the macaroni is constantly being turned in the water. The water will gradually be absorbed by the macaroni. By the end of the 10 minutes the macaroni should be just cooked and all the water cooked out, so you have an almost dry pan.
Take the pan off the heat and set aside.
Now to make the white sauce for your Macarona Bechamel
Tip the cornflour into a small bowl. Gradually add a little of the milk and mix well to make a smooth cream – the consistency of single cream.
Put the rest of the milk into a pan with the grated stock cube and put it on the stove to the boil.
As soon as the milk comes to the boil, add the cornflour & milk mix, whisking vigorously as you do so. The liquid should thicken up immediately. Take the pan off the heat.
If your milk doesn’t thicken straight away, then your milk wasn’t hot enough and you’ll need to heat it a little longer. Make sure you constantly stir especially into the corners and on the bottom because this is where it will burn if you don’t.
Add the butter now and 3/4 of the cheese if you choose to use it. And mix well.
Tip the macaroni into the sauce and mix again, making all the macaroni gets coated in the creamy sauce.
Now it’s time to build up the layers of your Macarona Bechamel
Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees C
You need a deep, rectangular, oven-proof dish approximately 20cm x 3ocm.
Butter the dish. Then pour 1/4 of the macaroni in white sauce into the base of it.
Now carefully pour the meat sauce over. Lay it in an even layer and try not to mix it with the macaroni.
Next you need to pour on the remaining macaroni. Again lay this in an even layer.
If you have decided to add cheese then sprinkle the remaining cheese on the top.
Bake your Macarona Bechamel for about 15 minute
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes, until the top begins to brown a little.
Remove from the oven and allow it to cool for at least half an hour. This allows the macaroni to absorb some of the moisture from the sauce and set.
How to serve Macarona Bechamel
Macarona Bechamel is sliced into large portions for serving, rather than scooped out. That’s why it’s important to give it time to set. Plus the flavours can be appreciated much better when it’s cooled slightly.
Macarona Bechamel is great served with something like salata baladi.
In Egypt it is more common to have Macarona Bechamel as an extra side dish rather than the main feature when you were having guests round for a meal.
Vegetarian option
To make this recipe a vegetarian option, simply omit the meat and add 200g chopped mushrooms plus 1 aubergine chopped into 1cm cubes in its place and add them to the mix. And swap the meat stock cubes for vegetable stock cubes.
I hope you enjoy this recipe. Let me know how you get on with it.