Ho ho ho, ain't it christmas. No it's not.
Anyway, here it comes. Macaroni Casserole is a classic working-class dinner in Finland nowadays, and here's your chance to try out what kind of food makes a nation get a pole position in suicide- and depression statistics.
Nah, in reality, it's actually good. And really easy to make! Here goes:
You need:
- 500g of Pasta Macaroni (or Tiburón that I used, a Spanish equivalent)
- 1l of milk (You can use whole or semi-skimmed also)
- 3 eggs
- 200-300g of minced meat (beef)
- 200g of bacon (Note! this is my variation, traditionally you'd use mince pork instead)
- 1 Onion
- 8-12 claves of garlic
- Chives
- Black pepper
- White pepper
- Salt
- Olive oil
Peel and wash onion and carlic. Chop like-so, don't be a sissy and use a chopper. Use a knife. Using a chopper will easily result with too fine bits, we want them rather chunky for this.
Splatter a good puddle of olive oil on a frying pan. Do not worry about the calories; you are going to die anyway - someday. But in reality, 3-4 spoon's fine. Switch the heat on high. When there's a amall bubbles and/or visible steam rising from the oil, add the choppped onion and garlic.
When the onion/garlic have absorbed enough oil, they start to look wet and a bit translucent, add the minced meat and mix it in. Lower the heat of the stove at this point also, we are not trying to cook the meat too well right now.
Chop and add the bacon on the frying pan..
...And mix it in. Don't worry if the fat of the bacon is not melting - Do not add heat. It will be sorted later. Just mix the thing carefully, so that the bacon bits are detatched from each other. Add salt to taste (about 2 teaspoons is usually ok at this point).
Add peppers. Black pepper, a twists from a pepper mill is enough. I also like to give it a little extra punch with red chili powder / similar, but do not over-do it.
At this point, the result looks like this. This completes the first phase. Move the frying pan off the hot spot and cover it with a lid. Switch the heat on full, and put a boiler/pot/kettle/.. on the stove, with about 2 litres of water in it.. To boil.
Add some salt and olive oil to the water, and when it starts to boil, add macaroni (or any other relatively small-grained pasta). Consult the information on the pasta package to see the required boiling time.
Paint your casserole pan with oil. Use a glass pan or a ceramic pan - Do not use a metal one, this shit is going to stick in it. Or, you can use a metallic non-stick casserole pan, if you want to risk it (non-stick pans are expensive, And a bit *uhh you know what*).
Ok, put 3 eggs to a large-enough bowl. Add white pepper. Note: Do not leave out white pepper. I don't know why, but this is critical! Without white pepper it's just shit. If you use too much, it will dominate - don't put in more than half a teanspoon. If you use too little or leave it out, it's fail. Dunno why, that's just how it is.
Add chives, just cut it in with scissors. Add some salt (about a teaspoon). Mix it so that the structure of the eggs is broken, don't whip it. Turn the oven on, around 220C.
Add 1l of milk to the bowl and mix. Still, do not whip it.
When the pasta is boiled to "al dente", pour it on a colander/strainer. Don't rinse.
So the assembling begins. Pout the pasta to the casserole pan from the strainer. Add the meat-onion-mix from the frying pan to the casserole pan..
..And mix them together like-so, so it is even. Then, pour the eggs-milk-spices mix evenly on the casserole pan. It is suppose to ALMOST cover the macaroni and meat. If it looks too dry, add a little bit of milk and mix carefully, but you should be ok without tweaking (we all know what they say about too much tweaking.. hmm or was it the-other-thing).
Now it looks like this. Put the pan in the 220C oven. After a while, maybe 10 minutes or so, when the's a bit steam, lower the heat to 200C. After that, when it has been in there a half an hour, lower the heat to aroud 180C. After it has been in there an hour, turn the oven off and wait for another 10 minutes.
Serve with ketchup, decorate with parsley and chives. Drink? Cheap and sweet white wine or beer (milk for kids).
If you try it, post pics. If you decide to try only cheap wine or beer, post pics anyway.
Anyway, here it comes. Macaroni Casserole is a classic working-class dinner in Finland nowadays, and here's your chance to try out what kind of food makes a nation get a pole position in suicide- and depression statistics.
Nah, in reality, it's actually good. And really easy to make! Here goes:
You need:
- 500g of Pasta Macaroni (or Tiburón that I used, a Spanish equivalent)
- 1l of milk (You can use whole or semi-skimmed also)
- 3 eggs
- 200-300g of minced meat (beef)
- 200g of bacon (Note! this is my variation, traditionally you'd use mince pork instead)
- 1 Onion
- 8-12 claves of garlic
- Chives
- Black pepper
- White pepper
- Salt
- Olive oil
Peel and wash onion and carlic. Chop like-so, don't be a sissy and use a chopper. Use a knife. Using a chopper will easily result with too fine bits, we want them rather chunky for this.
Splatter a good puddle of olive oil on a frying pan. Do not worry about the calories; you are going to die anyway - someday. But in reality, 3-4 spoon's fine. Switch the heat on high. When there's a amall bubbles and/or visible steam rising from the oil, add the choppped onion and garlic.
When the onion/garlic have absorbed enough oil, they start to look wet and a bit translucent, add the minced meat and mix it in. Lower the heat of the stove at this point also, we are not trying to cook the meat too well right now.
Chop and add the bacon on the frying pan..
...And mix it in. Don't worry if the fat of the bacon is not melting - Do not add heat. It will be sorted later. Just mix the thing carefully, so that the bacon bits are detatched from each other. Add salt to taste (about 2 teaspoons is usually ok at this point).
Add peppers. Black pepper, a twists from a pepper mill is enough. I also like to give it a little extra punch with red chili powder / similar, but do not over-do it.
At this point, the result looks like this. This completes the first phase. Move the frying pan off the hot spot and cover it with a lid. Switch the heat on full, and put a boiler/pot/kettle/.. on the stove, with about 2 litres of water in it.. To boil.
Add some salt and olive oil to the water, and when it starts to boil, add macaroni (or any other relatively small-grained pasta). Consult the information on the pasta package to see the required boiling time.
Paint your casserole pan with oil. Use a glass pan or a ceramic pan - Do not use a metal one, this shit is going to stick in it. Or, you can use a metallic non-stick casserole pan, if you want to risk it (non-stick pans are expensive, And a bit *uhh you know what*).
Ok, put 3 eggs to a large-enough bowl. Add white pepper. Note: Do not leave out white pepper. I don't know why, but this is critical! Without white pepper it's just shit. If you use too much, it will dominate - don't put in more than half a teanspoon. If you use too little or leave it out, it's fail. Dunno why, that's just how it is.
Add chives, just cut it in with scissors. Add some salt (about a teaspoon). Mix it so that the structure of the eggs is broken, don't whip it. Turn the oven on, around 220C.
Add 1l of milk to the bowl and mix. Still, do not whip it.
When the pasta is boiled to "al dente", pour it on a colander/strainer. Don't rinse.
So the assembling begins. Pout the pasta to the casserole pan from the strainer. Add the meat-onion-mix from the frying pan to the casserole pan..
..And mix them together like-so, so it is even. Then, pour the eggs-milk-spices mix evenly on the casserole pan. It is suppose to ALMOST cover the macaroni and meat. If it looks too dry, add a little bit of milk and mix carefully, but you should be ok without tweaking (we all know what they say about too much tweaking.. hmm or was it the-other-thing).
Now it looks like this. Put the pan in the 220C oven. After a while, maybe 10 minutes or so, when the's a bit steam, lower the heat to 200C. After that, when it has been in there a half an hour, lower the heat to aroud 180C. After it has been in there an hour, turn the oven off and wait for another 10 minutes.
Serve with ketchup, decorate with parsley and chives. Drink? Cheap and sweet white wine or beer (milk for kids).
If you try it, post pics. If you decide to try only cheap wine or beer, post pics anyway.
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