Macaroni Bechamel is a traditional Egyptian baked pasta which is layered with a well-seasoned beef mixture and topped with creamy bechamel sauce then baked until it has a beautiful golden colour.
Egyptian Macaroni Bechamel Ingredients
- Penny
- Salt
For The Filling
- Minced beef
- Tomato sauce
- Onion minced
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
- Fresh ginger
- Bay leaf
- Cinnamon
- Cloves
- Paprika
- Cayenne pepper
- Cinnamon stick
- Cardamom
- Water
For The Bechamel Sauce
- Whole milk
- All-purpose flour
- Salt
- Ground black pepper
How To Make Egyptian Macaroni Bechamel (Baked pasta)?
Cooking the pasta: in a large pot with salted water cook the pasta according to package instructions.
Preparing the filling: In a pot, place the minced beef, minced onion, water and all the spices then cook until the beef is fully cooked and all the liquid is reduced.
Add the tomato sauce then stir and turn off the heat.
Making the bechamel: Pour the milk into a pot, then add the flour, salt and pepper.
After that, place the mixture over medium heat and whisk occasionally using the whisk. Once the mixture starts to bubble, whisk continuously until it thickens, then turn off the heat.
Assembling everything: Preheat the oven at 190C
Spread two tablespoons of the bechamel sauce on the bottom of a 9-inch baking dish, then spread half of the cooked pasta.
After that, spread the filling evenly over the pasta.
Then spread the other half of the pasta over the filling.
Finally, spread the bechamel sauce on top.
Baking: Bake for one hour or until the top becomes golden brown.
Serving Suggestions
Nothing will be better than a big bowl of salad to serve with this dish.
Tips and Variations
- Don't overcook the pasta it will oven-bake for around an hour, which will make it softer.
- This recipe is traditionally made with penne, but you can substitute it with any other pasta you like.
- In this recipe, I make bechamel sauce without using butter at all; however, if you like the traditional way of making bechamel feel free to make it that way.
- The most flavoured bit in this recipe is the filling; I love seasoning it very well to add lots of flavours to the baked pasta; however, if you don't like a particular spice I used in this recipe, you can remove it.
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More pasta recipes
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Macaroni Bechamel (Egyptian Baked Pasta)
Ingredients
- 480 g pasta penny
- ½ teaspoon salt
For The Filling
- 500 g minced beef
- ½ cup tomato sauce
- 1 onion minced
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger
- 1 bay leaf
- 6 cloves
- ¼ teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ stick cinnamon
- 4 pods cardamom
- 1 cup water
For The Bechamel Sauce
- 5 cups whole milk
- 8 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- In a large pot with salted water cook the pasta according to package instructions.
- Preparing the filling: In a pot, place the minced beef, minced onion, water and all the spices then cook until the beef is fully cooked and all the liquid is reduced.
- Add the tomato sauce then stir and turn off the heat.
- Making the bechamel: Pour the milk in a pot then add the flour, salt and pepper.
- After that, place the mixture over medium heat and whisk occasionally using the whisk. Once the mixture starts to bubble whisk continuously until it thickens, then turn off the heat.
- Assembling everything: Preheat the oven at 190C
- Spread two tablespoons of the bechamel sauce on the bottom of a 9-inch baking dish then spread half of the cooked pasta.
- After that, spread the filling evenly over the pasta.
- Then spread the other half of the pasta over the filling.
- Finally, spread the bechamel sauce on top.
- Bake for one hour or until the top becomes golden brown.
Notes
- Don't overcook the pasta it will oven-bake for around an hour, which will make it softer.
- This recipe is traditionally made with penne, but you can substitute it with any other pasta you like.
- In this recipe, I make bechamel sauce without using butter at all; however, if you like the traditional way of making bechamel feel free to make it that way.
- The most flavoured bit in this recipe is the filling; I love seasoning it very well to add lots of flavours to the baked pasta; however, if you don't like a particular spice I used in this recipe, you can remove it.
Nutrition
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