When it comes to my childhood comfort food, one prominent dish that comes to mind is this baked macaroni. My mom baked it so often that the taste always lingers in the brain. But now as I'm getting more picky on fatty food (dessert is an exception), I don't want to use the luncheon meat so I sub it with chicken instead, and off course with much less less cheese.
Ingredients:
300gr dried macaroni (elbow pasta) - boiled and strained, set aside
150gr shredded cheddar (get the processed cheddar cheese to get the crunchy topping)
Filling:
2 tomatoes - seeded and diced
60gr sun dried tomatoes - thinly sliced
150gr minced chicken
1 onion - thinly diced
Seasoning: nutmeg, black pepper, sugar, salt, basil
Custard:
400ml milk
3 eggs
Seasoning: nutmeg (1 pinch), black pepper, sugar, salt
How to:
Filling:
1. In a bowl, mix minced chicken with little bit of corn flour, black pepper, sugar and salt, set aside
2. On a wok, medium fire, sautee onion and sundried tomatoes w/ olive oil until fragrant, toss in minced chicken, and cook the chicken while breaking it to small pieces. Once chicken is done, off fire and set the filling aside.
Custard:
1. On a bowl, whip w/ hand whisk eggs and little bit of sugar till fluffy, add on milk and the rest of the seasoning. Whisk the mixture till well mixed and set aside.
Assemble:
1. Preheat oven to 175C
2. On the casserole dish, stack in order: macaroni, cheese, filling, tomatoes, cheese, macaroni, cheese, filling, tomatoes, macaroni, cheese. Whichever the order, macaroni must be on the bottom and top. Finish the stacking w/ the cheese to get the crust.
3. Pour in the custard until the stacks are soaked nicely.
4. Bake for 45min (check after 35min whether the custard all cooked by pressing the top. If the custard still oozing out from the crust, put it back for another 10min and check again afterwards).
Tips:
1. Kids may not fancy the idea of chicken and sundried tomatoes, so best to go with the luncheon meat or corned beef. If you want some color, you can keep the tomatoes.
2. For luxury version, sub the chicken with cubes of honey baked ham. It costs much more than chicken but definitely more tasty.
3. If you're into the mozzarella or cheddar, this dish will also work well, but you won't get the crisp top like the one on the pic. The closest cheese to get that crisp is parmesan, but I like the processed cheddar best for this dish. It's the Kraft's cheese in the blue box, every country packaging is different but the blue box is the same. But apparently it's nowhere to be seen in the US, for parmesan will have to do for those living in US.
Ingredients:
300gr dried macaroni (elbow pasta) - boiled and strained, set aside
150gr shredded cheddar (get the processed cheddar cheese to get the crunchy topping)
Filling:
2 tomatoes - seeded and diced
60gr sun dried tomatoes - thinly sliced
150gr minced chicken
1 onion - thinly diced
Seasoning: nutmeg, black pepper, sugar, salt, basil
Custard:
400ml milk
3 eggs
Seasoning: nutmeg (1 pinch), black pepper, sugar, salt
How to:
Filling:
1. In a bowl, mix minced chicken with little bit of corn flour, black pepper, sugar and salt, set aside
2. On a wok, medium fire, sautee onion and sundried tomatoes w/ olive oil until fragrant, toss in minced chicken, and cook the chicken while breaking it to small pieces. Once chicken is done, off fire and set the filling aside.
Custard:
1. On a bowl, whip w/ hand whisk eggs and little bit of sugar till fluffy, add on milk and the rest of the seasoning. Whisk the mixture till well mixed and set aside.
Assemble:
1. Preheat oven to 175C
2. On the casserole dish, stack in order: macaroni, cheese, filling, tomatoes, cheese, macaroni, cheese, filling, tomatoes, macaroni, cheese. Whichever the order, macaroni must be on the bottom and top. Finish the stacking w/ the cheese to get the crust.
3. Pour in the custard until the stacks are soaked nicely.
4. Bake for 45min (check after 35min whether the custard all cooked by pressing the top. If the custard still oozing out from the crust, put it back for another 10min and check again afterwards).
Tips:
1. Kids may not fancy the idea of chicken and sundried tomatoes, so best to go with the luncheon meat or corned beef. If you want some color, you can keep the tomatoes.
2. For luxury version, sub the chicken with cubes of honey baked ham. It costs much more than chicken but definitely more tasty.
3. If you're into the mozzarella or cheddar, this dish will also work well, but you won't get the crisp top like the one on the pic. The closest cheese to get that crisp is parmesan, but I like the processed cheddar best for this dish. It's the Kraft's cheese in the blue box, every country packaging is different but the blue box is the same. But apparently it's nowhere to be seen in the US, for parmesan will have to do for those living in US.
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