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Macaroni and minced meat casserole with cheese

Macaroni and Ground Meat Casserole with Cheese

A tasty, quick-to-make dish of pasta and ground meat! Pasta with ground meat seems so ordinary at first glance. But you can actually turn these ingredients into a delicious Italian dish — a fragrant casserole with a crispy top. You could even serve it for a holiday.

Snezhana

Recipe author

Macaroni and minced meat casserole with cheese

Composition / ingredients

Servings:

Pasta

400

Minced meat

400

Carrots

Onion

Vegetable oil

Salt

Ground black pepper

Hard cheese

Translation table of volumetric measures

Nutrients and energy value of the composition of the recipe

By weight of the composition:

Proteins 19 % 10 g

Fats 30 % 16 g

Carbohydrates 51 % 27 g

293 kcal

GI: 7 / 93 / 0

Cooking method

Cooking time: 45 min

Step 1:

How do you make a macaroni and ground meat casserole with cheese? Get the ingredients ready. Use any pasta you like and have on hand, ideally durum-wheat. Pour water into a pot and set it over the heat. Add a little salt. When the water boils, add the pasta and stir it right away with a spoon so it doesn't stick to the bottom. Turn the heat to medium and cook for 8 minutes.
Step 2:

You can also use any ground meat you like for the casserole. With ground chicken the casserole is lower in calories, while a pork-and-beef mix makes it richer and tastier. Use store-bought ground meat or grind your own from fresh meat.
Step 3:

Peel the onion and chop it finely with a knife.
Step 4:

Wash, peel, and grate the carrot on the medium side.
Step 5:

Pour vegetable oil into a heavy-bottomed skillet. Heat it up. Add the prepped carrot and onion. Fry the vegetables over medium heat until lightly golden, stirring occasionally with a spatula.
Step 6:

Add the ground meat to the sautéed vegetables in the skillet and stir it in right away so it doesn't clump into big lumps. Add salt and ground black pepper to taste. Stir and fry for about 10 minutes over medium heat.
Step 7:

Grease a baking dish with butter. Spread some of the pasta into the dish.
Step 8:

Spread the ground meat and vegetables on top.
Step 9:

Cover the meat-and-vegetable layer with the rest of the pasta. Sprinkle finely grated hard cheese on top. Pick a cheese to taste — the main thing is that it doesn't have too strong a flavor that would overpower the other ingredients.
Step 10:

Put the casserole in an oven preheated to 350°F (180°C) for 20 minutes. All the ingredients — the base of the casserole — are already cooked, so it doesn't need long in the oven, to avoid drying out. The macaroni casserole with ground meat and cheese is ready. Let it cool a little and serve with fresh vegetables, herbs, or a fresh vegetable salad. Enjoy!

Every oil is good only up to a certain temperature — its smoke point, beyond which it starts to burn and forms toxic compounds, including carcinogens. For how to choose the right frying temperature and the best oil for frying — and which ones are better avoided entirely — read here.
Important! The wrong pan can ruin even the best recipe. For all the details on choosing the perfect pan for different dishes, read here.
Keep in mind that ovens differ. The temperature and cooking time may differ from those in the recipe. To make any baked dish a success, use the helpful information on the quirks of ovens!