Makaronilaatikko or Finnish Macaroni and Cheese a typical everyday dish in Finland. It’s easy to make but you shouldn’t underestimate it at all. Despite of its simplicity it’s a very delicious meal.
Ingredients
400 g macaroni pasta
400 g minced beef meat
1 onion
spices
3 eggs
4-5 dl milk
200 g grated flavourful cheese (eg. Emmental, Gouda)
Instructions
Cook the macaroni according to the instructions on the package, but leave it just slightly undone. Drain the pasta and briefly rinse it with cold running water to prevent it from sticking. Set aside.
Warm a frying pan until hot, add some oil and the chopped onion. When the onion is glassy, add the minced meat. Stir and cook the meat on high heat until it is cooked and all the moisture has evaporated. Season the meat with some salt and with whatever spices you might like (garlic, herbs, chili etc.). Stir the meat into the cooked pasta and pour the mixture into a buttered oven pan or casserole dish. Add some grated cheese and stir it again.
Whisk together milk and eggs, then pour the mixture over the macaroni and meat in the casserole. Top with the remaining cheese and bake in the preheated oven for approximately 40 minutes, or until the cheese is golden brown and the casserole is heated throughout.
Serve it with ketchup and eating with pickled cucumber is also a good idea.
It’s definitely a strange way to prepare a dish of pasta, but I’ll try it once 🙂
I think, it’s more like American way of dealing with pasta than Italian. 😉