Italian Macaroni Casserole: the recipe for the rich and delicious main dish

Italian macaroni casserole is a very rich and tasty main dish. It is a classic and traditional Italian recipe that can be enriched with meatballs, scamorza cheese, hard-boiled eggs or slices of salami.

In our version there is a double layer of pasta that is generously seasoned with béchamel, provolone cheese and sausage sauce, and then baked in the oven to make it stringy and irresistibly golden on the surface. Easy and very quick to make, serve baked macaroni at a family lunch and success will be more than assured.

Tips

For the success of this preparation, it is good to boil the pasta in boiling salted water and drain it al dente as it will continue baking in the oven. As an alternative to macaroni, you can use any short pasta format you have at home.

Pasta casserole is a poor recipe, so you can add all your leftovers from the refrigerator, such as hard-boiled eggs, a few cubes of salami, and other cheese. The variations for this dish are endless, each cured meat and cheese is perfectly suited to enrich this recipe.

You can make the baked macaroni the day before and put them in the oven to brown just before serving. If cooked in advance, the macaroni casserole will better absorb the flavors and aromas of the dressing and the final preparation will be even tastier.

How to store Macaroni Casserole

Italian Macaroni casserole can be stored in the refrigerator, placed in a special container with an airtight seal or covered on the surface with a sheet of transparent film, for a maximum of 2-3 days.

How to make Italian Macaroni Casserole

Prepare the sauce: peel the onion, slice it and sauté it in a saucepan with the oil; add the sausage, peeled and chopped with a wooden spoon (1), and let it brown well.

Pour the tomato puree (2), add a pinch of salt and cook for at least 25 minutes, until you have a very thick sauce.

Prepare the béchamel: melt the butter with the flour in a saucepan, then add the milk (3), put it back on the heat and cook until thickened. Season with salt and flavor with nutmeg.

Boil the pasta in boiling salted water, then drain it al dente. Season with the béchamel and mix well (4).

Add the sauce and mix again (5).

Arrange half of the pasta in a lightly greased pan and cover with diced provolone cheese (6).

Cover with the remaining pasta (7) and sprinkle with the grated parmesan cheese and the flaked butter. Bake in the oven at 350 ° F for about 20 minutes, turning on the grill for the last 5 minutes to form the crust.

After the cooking time, take the pasta out of the oven, flavor with a little chopped parsley and serve (8).