Creamy Baked Macaroni with Basil Recipe

 Creamy Baked Macaroni with Meaty Basil Sauce

Baked Macaroni is undoubtedly one of my family's comfort foods. It is so easy to prepare and make. With this type of dish, you can plan ahead of time to prepare the meaty sauce just in time for any party or gathering. Baked mac can be prepared and made in a variety of ways. Nevertheless, the most basic ingredients that are used to make this dish are the following: meaty sauce, cheese and, of course, the macaroni noodles.

Fun Fact!

Did you know that the origin of baked mac and cheese can be traced back to Italy? A 13th century old cookbook known as "Liber de Coquina" (Book of Cooking) contains a recipe in which food historians believe to be the first macaroni and cheese recipe. The recipe consists of sheets of pasta, cooked in boiling water and tossed with a generous amount of  grated cheese to achieve its creamy, cheesy flavor. 

Let's start baking!

For the Macaroni Noodles

◻️ 400g macaroni elbow noodles

◻️ 2 tbsp salt

◻️ 2 tbsp cooking oil (any kind)

◻️ 6 cups water

For the Meaty red sauce

◻️ 500 g ground beef

◻️ 5 cloves garlic, minced

◻️ 1 big white onion, minced 

◻️ 1 big red bell pepper, minced 

◻️ 1 big green bell pepper, minced

◻️ 6 pcs red hotdogs, diagonally sliced

◻️ 150 g tomato paste

◻️ 200 g tomato sauce

◻️ 2 tbsp sugar

◻️ 2 tsp salt

◻️ 1 tbsp black pepper, ground

◻️ 3 tbsp sugar (adjust the sugar if you want a sweeter sauce)

◻️ 8 - 10 pcs fresh Basil leaves, tear or cut into smaller pieces.

◻️ 2/3 cup water

For the cheese topping

◻️ 5 tbsp butter

◻️ 5 tbsp all-purpose flour

◻️ 2 cups milk (any kind)

◻️ 185 g quickmelt cheese, grated

     - 3/4 for the cheese topping

     - 1/4 for garnishing later

◻️ 1 tsp of salt

◻️ big skillet or wok

◻️ chopping board

◻️ knife

◻️ baking tray/s

◻️ container for noodles

◻️ strainer

◻️ grater

◻️ spoon

◻️ spatula

1 Boil the macaroni noodles. Pour the water in a pot. Add the oil and salt. Turn on the stove over medium heat and wait until the water boils. Once the water is boiling, drop in the noodles by batch and soak them in using a spatula until all the noodles are soak in the hot water. Boil for 8-10 minutes or until the noodles get tender. Turn off the stove. Drain the macaroni of hot water using a strainer. To avoid getting soggy, as the macaroni noodles are still hot and continuously cooking, pour cold water to the macaroni to abruptly stop the cooking process. Set aside.

 

2 Make the meaty red sauce. Pour the oil in a skillet and turn the stove over medium heat. Sauté the garlic for 2 minutes or until it turns light brown. Next, sauté the onion for another 2 minutes or until color turns lighter. Add in the ground beef and stir it for a few seconds. Add in the salt and black pepper. Stir from time to time and wait for 5 minutes or until for the ground beef mixture turn light brown in color. Add in the hotdog slices and cook for another 5 minutes. Next, add in the bell peppers and cook further for another 3-4 minutes or until the bell peppers are tender. Pour in the tomato sauce, tomato paste and  water. Stir from time to time. Once boiling lower the heat and sprinkle some fresh Basil leaves (about 2/3 of the amount you have). Cook for another 2 - 3 minutes. Turn off the stove.

3 Make the cheese topping. Get a small skillet. Turn the stove over low heat so as not to burn the butter and other ingredients. Add in the butter and start stirring gradually until it melts. Add in the all-purpose flour gradually and continuously stir so as to disperse the flour and prevent it from forming lumps.

milk

You can already pour in the milk from time to time to keep the flour mixture from drying up and forming lumps. 

grated quickmelt cheese

Just like with the milk, add in 3/4 of the grated cheese gradually while continuously  to blend it in the mixture. This whole process would take around 10- 12 minutes to be done. You can further adjust the butter, milk and cheese until you reach your desired consistency. Turn off the stove and set aside.

4 Prepare and bake the macaroni. Get a baking tray and fill it in with a half-full of macaroni mixture. Pour some drizzle of cheese topping mixture on top of the macaroni mixture.  Continue to fill in some more macaroni on top up to slightly near the brim. Again, pour the remaining drizzle of cheese topping on top, spreading it evenly with a spatula or spoon. Sprinkle the remaining fresh Basil leaves on top. Lastly, sprinkle the remaining grated cheese on top.

drizzle of cheese topping

Heat the oven at 180 degrees Celsius and bake the macaroni for 15 minutes. I usually bake ours by batch. Turn off the oven. Let the baked macaroni to rest for a few minutes before serving. Oh well, you might as well skip this and start serving it if your family is already starving! (wink, wink). Who would resist eating this kind of dish?

5 Serve and enjoy.

👍Baked macaroni with Basil will last for 3 to 5 days in the refrigerator.

👍To extend the shelf life of Baked macaroni with Basil, freeze in covered airtight containers or heavy duty freezer bags.

Have you ever tried making this comfort food? I would love to know your thoughts. If you like today's special, you may share this recipe and follow me here on Blogger and Facebook for more free recipes to try and enjoy. 

 

Till next time!

Happy Cooking ! 

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