Thursday, May 28, 2009

Michelle-style Baked Macaroni

On Sunday, I sat down to the computer to figure out what I could make with limited ingredients. I hadn't been grocery shopping and needed to find a recipe that I could spice up regular pasta with. This recipe was originally American-style Baked Ziti. I didn't have Ziti so I substituted macaroni. I also substituted Parmigiano with Parmesan, Italian flavored bread crumbs for plain, fresh tomatoes with canned, etc. If I were to make this again I would double the white sauce recipe because I thought the pasta was a little dry after baking it in the oven. I would also shorten the bake time from 30 to 15 minutes.
Michelle-style Baked Macaroni

1 box (1lb) Elbow pasta
3 tbsp butter
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 cups milk
1 can diced tomatoes
1/2 c Parmesan cheese, grated
1/4 c bread crumbs
1 tbsp olive oil
dried basil

Cook elbow pasta as directed; drain and set aside
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, salt, pepper and oregano; cook 1 minute or until bubbly. Gradually stir in milk. Cook 2-3 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; set aside.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine bread crumbs and olive oil in a small bowl and set aside.
Stir together pasta, white sauce, chopped can of tomatoes, cheese in a large bowl. Place pasta mixture in a baking dish; sprinkle with bread crumbs and dried basil.
Bake for 15 minutes.

If interested in the original recipe:
http://www.barillaus.com/recipes/Americanstyle_Baked_Ziti.aspx

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