Description
Egyptian macarona bechamel (مكرونة بشاميل,) is a comfort food recipe popular in Egypt made from penna pasta baked in béchamel sauce.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
For the Pasta
- 500g Penne pasta
- Water
- Salt, to taste
For the Meat Sauce
- 500g Ground beef
- 1 onion
- 1 1/2 cup tomato sauce
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1 teaspoon black pepper (or to taste)
For the Béchamel Sauce
- 1 1/2 cup flour
- 1 1/2 cup butter
- 1 1/2 litres milk
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
For the Assembly
- 1 cup grated mozzarella
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 375 degree F.
For the pasta
- Start by boiling the pasta in salted water until al dente. Drain and set aside.
For the meat sauce
- Finely dice the onion and cook in a pan with the olive oil, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the meat and break it up using a wooden spoon and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Add the salt, pepper, thyme and the tomato sauce and simmer for 3-4 minutes. set aside.
For the Bechamel Sauce
- Begin by melting the butter over medium heat.
- Whisk in the flour while over heat. Cook for 3-4 minutes as you continuously whisk.
- Pour the milk in slowly while continuing to whisk until the sauce is formed.
Macarona Bechamel, Assemble!
- In a deep, large casserole dish, add the pasta. Add the meat mixture and mix together. Smooth out to create a layer. Add a layer of mozzarella.
- Cover using all of the Bechamel sauce and smooth it out (for presentation).
- Bake at 375 degrees F for 40 mins. Serve with a smile!
Notes
This is generally a pretty simple recipe. There are some tips regarding the Bechamel sauce and pasta in the post, however as long as you follow the instructions, you should be good! I’d recommend playing around with the meat sauce to create a version of it that you really love!
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Main Course
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Egyptian
