Baked Mac and Cheese

June 5, 2021

Hello friends.

Today I am going to make a baked mac and cheese. My daughters have been asking me to make one again. Maybe they love the one I made for them a few weeks ago.

Yesterday was our grocery schedule. Before I left the house, my daughter reminded me to buy the ingredients needed for the baked mac.

Here are the ingredients needed for this dish.

Main ingredient:

• 1 lb. macaroni

• ¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese

There are two kinds of sauce that we are going to make. The first sauce is the tomato meat sauce. This is just like cooking a spaghetti sauce. You can even use spaghetti sauce instead of the tomato sauce. Here are the ingredients for the tomato meat sauce.

• ½ k ground beef

• 1 Knorr beef cube

• 1 small red bell pepper chopped

• 1 small green bell pepper chopped

• 1 small yellow onion cubed

• 3 cloves garlic crushed and chopped

• 2 packs tomato sauce

• 1 small pack of tomato paste

• Salt and ground black pepper to taste

• 3 tablespoons cooking oil

The second sauce is the white sauce. This will be poured on above the mixture once it is ready for baking in the oven. And the ingredients for the white sauce are as follows:

• 4 tablespoons butter

• ½ cup all-purpose flour

• 1 ¾ cups fresh milk

• ½ cup quick melt cheese

Once you have the ingredients ready, it is now time to cook them. There are four steps to do in making the baked mac

First is to cook the macaroni pasta according to package instructions and set this aside.

Next step is to make the tomato meat sauce. As mentioned above, this is just like making the sauce for a spaghetti.

Saute onions, garlic and the bell peppers. Add the ground beef and cook until it browns. I usually put a small water and cover it and simmer for at least 3 to 5 minutes to make sure that the beef is properly cooked. Then add the knorr beef cubes and stir a bit. Then add the tomato paste and tomato sauce and stir again. Cover and let it boil for a minute or two. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer again for another 5 minutes then it is ready to be set aside.

The third step is to prepare the white sauce.
This is done by melting the butter in a pot. Add the all-purpose flour and keep on stirring until the butter is being absorbed by the flour and lumps are formed. Then pour the milk in and continue stirring the mixture until the flour lumps are dissolved and at the same time heating the milk. Once there are no more lumps you can now add the quick melt cheese and blend together by continuously stirring the mixture.

The last and final step is to mix the macaroni with the tomato meat sauce. Mix well together until all pasta is covered by the tomato meat sauce. You may add a small amount of the white sauce to the mixture for a creamier sauce. Add the shredded cheddar cheese and mix well again.

Arrange the macaroni mixture on a baking pan. Top with remaining white sauce. Make sure to spread the sauce all over to cover the top.

Preheat oven to 375F and bake for 15 to 18 minutes.

And there you have it. Baked Mac and Cheese, my version.

Tara na, let's eat!

Thanks for dropping by.

❤🧡❤