Serves 6
Ingredients:
- 9 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 4 cups whole milk at room temperature
- 3 pinches freshly grated nutmeg
- Salt, black & white pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 large white or brown onion, finely chopped
- 2 fresh garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 lb ground beef, 80/20 blend
- ¼ lb raw & uncooked pinenuts
- 2 large eggs
- 1 pound penne pasta, cooked al dente
- 1/2 cup shredded Pecorini or Parmesan cheese
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Using your hands or a brush, butter your 13×9 glass dish evenly and set aside. In a large pot, boil the penne pasta in salted water for 15-20 minutes or until al dente. Once cooked, drain and wash over cold water. Set aside.
2. Now let’s make the béchamel sauce. In a 2-quart pot, melt 5 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. When butter has completely melted, add the flour and stir continuously until smooth, about 2-3 minutes. Gradually add the room temp milk, stirring constantly to prevent any lumps from forming. Continue to simmer and whisk over medium heat until the sauce is thick, smooth and creamy, about 10 minutes. The béchamel sauce should be thick enough to coat a wooden spoon. If it’s too thick, add more milk. Remove from heat and add a pinch of nutmeg, salt, and white pepper. Set aside.
3. In a small frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons unsalted butter on medium. Add the pinenuts and keep stirring until they are golden, about 3-5 minutes. Be careful not to leave this process unattended for a long time as the pinenuts may burn. Once the pinenuts are golden, use a slotted spoon to scoop them out and place them on a plate lined with paper towels. This will drain any excess oil. Use caution, this process is very hot. Once the oil has drained and the nuts have cooled, you will add them to the cooked ground beef.
4. In a saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon butter and extra-virgin olive oil. Add the chopped onion and garlic, salt and black pepper. Stir well. Once the onions are transparent, add the ground beef and allspice. Brown the meat, breaking any large lumps, until it is no longer pink. Remove from heat. If it’s too oily, tilt the pan and drain any excess fat. Set aside and allow to cool before mixing in the fried pinenuts.
5. Now it’s time to build our macaroni dish. Into the bottom of an already buttered 13 by 9-inch baking dish, add half of the cooked pasta as the first layer and pour 1/3 of the béchamel sauce. Sprinkle a little shredded cheese over the first layer. Tap the dish so that the sauce gets evenly distributed and flattened. Now evenly spread all the ground beef and pinenut blend over the pasta. Add a few dashes of ground nutmeg over the meat. It gives the meat an added delicious taste and the smell is amazing. Arrange the other half of pasta and pour the remaining béchamel sauce over the entire dish. Again tapping the dish to evenly distribute all the ingredients.
6. Take two eggs and whisk them along with a little milk. This is called an egg wash. Pour the egg wash over the entire dish and sprinkle the remaining shredded cheese over the dish. Do one more sprinkle with a little nutmeg then bake in the oven at 375, wrapped in foil for 35 minutes or until the top is bubbling. Remove foil cover and continue to bake for about 10-15 minutes or until the top gets brown and a little crunchy, so Yummy! Let cool and set for 15 minutes. Serve with a fresh and simple green salad and ENJOY!!
Sag Tips:
- Adding a little salt to the water seasons the pasta, avoiding it from tasting bland.
- You can substitute the ground beef with ground turkey or chicken
- You can substitute whole milk with rice milk for those intolerant to lactose ingredients.
- You can freeze this baked dish for future dinner.
- You can add mushrooms to the meat for added flavor.
- You can substitute the pinenuts with almonds
