Baked Macaroni

My Baked Macaroni has several comforting layers of elbow macaroni, a hearty sauce of ground beef, crumbled pork breakfast sausage in tomato sauces with a hint of sweetness from Filipino banana ketchup, and heaping amounts of grated mozzarella cheese. This makes an ideal family meal, a casserole for gatherings or a great potluck dish. This is a recipe by Elizabeth Ann Quirino for The Quirino Kitchen.

Cook Time1 30

Total Time1 30

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: American, Asian, Filipino

Keyword: Baked Macaroni

Servings: people

Calories: 428kcal

Author: Elizabeth Ann Quirino - The Quirino Kitchen

Equipment

1 Large stockpot, to boil pasta
1 Large saucepan, to cook sauce
1 Casserole pan, oven-safe; like what is used for lasagna

Ingredients

For Pasta

1 box (16 ounces) elbow macaroni

For the sauce:

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic
1 whole white or yellow onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef
1 whole (16 ounces) Jimmy Dean Breakfast Pork Sausage, crumbled
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes
1 can (12 ounces) tomato sauce
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 cup banana ketchup (like UFC); preferably Filipino brands
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 Tablespoons brown sugar

For toppings and layers:

3 cups grated mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly-grated
1/2 of a whole red bell pepper, seeded, chopped, for garnish on top

For serving:

garlic bread

Instructions

To cook Pasta:

Boil water in the large stockpot.
Cook the pasta according to package directions, about 11 minutes.
When cooked, drain liquid and set the pasta aside.

To cook the sauce:

In a large saucepan, over medium heat, add the extra virgin olive oil.
When oil is hot enough, saute the garlic and onions.
Add the beef and crumbled breakfast pork sausage. Combine well. Continue pan-frying till the beef turns from pink to a light brown, about 5 to 8 minutes. Some fat from the pork and beef may render in the saucepan.
To the meats in the saucepan, add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce and paste, and the banana ketchup. Mix well into the meats.
Season with salt and pepper.
Cover and continue cooking over a low simmer for about 35 to 40 minutes.
When the meats in the tomato sauce are cooked completely, add the brown sugar at the end. Turn off heat so that the sugar doesn't burn. Mix the sauce for the sweetness of the sugar to incorporate.
Tip: Adding the sugar at the end of cooking can prevent the sauce from burning.
Set the sauce aside for the assembly.

To assemble and bake the Baked Macaroni:

Preheat the oven at 375 F.
Get the casserole pan ready.
Assemble the ingredients in the casserole pan by arranging them in layers in this order from the bottom to the top:
Pour some of the sauce at the bottom of the pan, and spread it out with a spoon.
Add the cooked macaroni pasta on top of the first layer of sauce. Spread out the pasta.
Pour some of the sauce on the pasta layer.
Sprinkle a few tablespoons of the grated mozzarella all over the sauce.
Repeat the layers in this order: pasta, sauce, cheese -- for about 3 times.
For the top: layer a generous amount of meat sauce. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella cheese, and the Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle the chopped red bell peppers all over.
Cover the top with foil. Bake in the oven at 375 F for about 20 minutes. Remove the foil cover. Bake for 5 minutes more, uncovered, till the top is golden brown and bubbly.
Serve warm with garlic bread on the side.

Cook's comments:

If there are leftovers, cover and store in the refrigerator. This will keep for 3 to 4 days in the ref.
To freeze the cooked Baked Lasagna, cover tightly with plastic wrap, then foil. Freeze. This will keep in the freezer for about 2 weeks.
Make-ahead meal: You can cook and assemble the Baked Macaroni, but skip the baking part first. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and foil . Freeze for up to 3 weeks. When ready to bake, take it out of the freezer, thaw till it defrosts at room temperature. Then, bake accordingly.
Substitutions: 1) If you're short of time or ingredient availability, it's okay to swap a whole bottle of store-bought marinara sauce (24 ounces) for the tomato sauce and paste.
2) If you don't have Jimmy Dean's breakfast pork sausage on hand, you can substitute with any kind of pork sausage available, which has a savory-salty flavor. Chop it finely or crumble the sausage to maintain the same texture as ground beef.

Nutrition