Macaroni gratin with meat sauce
Macaroni gratin with meat sauce is a dish that we are sure the whole family will enjoy! Take your time with the meat sauce for the best results. Use plenty of herbs, good crushed tomatoes and a flavorful and strong meat broth. Let it simmer for at least an hour and preferably much longer.
Ingredients · Servings 4
- 100 g bacon
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 pieces of carrots
- 3 stalks celery
- 600 g minced meat
- 2 pieces of bay leaf
- 2 ts oregano
- 2 cans canned tomatoes
- 4 dl meat broth
- olive oil
- salt and ground pepper
- sugar
- basil
- 250 g macaroni
- 60g butter
- 60 g wheat flour
- 6 dl milk
- 200 g grated cheese
- 50 g parmesan
- salt and ground pepper
Method · 1 h 30 min
- Cut the bacon into small pieces. Finely chop the onion and garlic. Cut the carrots and celery into small cubes.
- Heat a good drizzle of olive oil in a large frying pan. Fry the bacon, add the onion and garlic and continue to fry for a few minutes. The onion should be soft and golden, but not brown.
- Add the carrots, celery, bay leaves and oregano. Continue to sauté until all the vegetables are soft and lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Remove the vegetable mixture from the pan at this time.
- Heat the pan again, add a drizzle of oil and fry the minced meat. Pour the vegetables back into the pan with the tomatoes and broth.
- Add a good pinch of salt and sugar and bring the mixture to a boil. Let the sauce simmer halfway, covered, for about 1 hour, or longer.
- Stir regularly and season the meat sauce with salt and ground pepper. Finally, stir in the roughly chopped fresh basil.
- Cook the macaroni in boiling, lightly salted water until just tender. Pour off the cooking water.
- Melt the butter for the sauce in a saucepan and stir in the flour. Add the milk while whisking vigorously to avoid lumps in the sauce. Let the sauce simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
- Season the sauce with salt, pepper and a little grated nutmeg, if desired. Mix half of the cheese into the sauce and mix the sauce with the macaroni.
- Grease the bottom of a medium-sized baking dish with a little butter or oil and pour in the meat sauce. Spread the macaroni stew on top and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.
- Bake the gratin in the oven at 220 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until the gratin is beautifully golden.
- Serve with a tomato salad on the side.
Meat sauce
100 g bacon, or pancetta or cured ham
1 onion, large
2 pieces of carrots, medium-sized
600 g minced meat, or pork chop dough
2 teaspoons oregano, dried
2 cans canned tomatoes, good quality, crushed (1 can = 400 gr)
Macaroni setting
6 dl milk, warm
