Makaronia tou Fournou - Cypriot Pasta Bake
INGREDIENTS
For the mincemeat:
1kg pork, chicken or beef mincemeat (you can also use half pork and half beef. I prefer pork or chicken, it makes the dish a little bit lighter)
2 brown onions, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, grated
2 teaspoons tomato paste
4 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon dried mint
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 large handfuls of fresh parsley, roughly chopped
salt and pepper to taste
For the pasta:
500g No. 2 pasta or bucatini
1 handful grated halloumi
1 tablespoon dried mint
For the béchamel:
90g butter
125g plain flour
1500ml full-fat milk, lukewarm
1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
250g finely grated halloumi
salt and white pepper to taste
DIRECTIONS
Bring a large pot of water to boil with a good couple of pinches of salt and cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than directed on the packet instructions. Drain well and transfer to a large baking dish immediately to avoid the pasta sticking together. Add the grated halloumi, and dried mint, mix well, and spread evenly across the dish.
In a large pot, add enough olive oil to cover the base of the pan and gently fry the onion on medium heat until soft and translucent, then add the garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes. Next, add the mincemeat and cook on medium-high heat until brown.
Add the tomato paste and ripe tomatoes, mix well and cook until the tomatoes have softened and any liquid has reduced.
Add about a cup of water, dried mint, bay leaves, and ground cinnamon and cloves and gently simmer on a low heat for about 20 minutes. The mincemeat shouldn’t be too wet but thick and juicy. Taste for seasoning and add salt/pepper to taste. Take it off the heat, stir in the chopped parsley and layer on top of the pasta.
At this stage, preheat your oven to 200C. To make the béchamel, add the butter to a large pot on medium-low heat. As soon as the butter has melted, add the flour and whisk well until all the flour has been absorbed by the butter and has formed a clumpy mixture. Continue whisking on medium heat until you can smell a nutty, burnt butter aroma.
Gradually add your lukewarm milk, about a cup at a time, continuously whisking until all the milk has been absorbed. Repeat until you’ve used all the milk and your béchamel has thickened.
Mix in about half of the grated halloumi, ground cinnamon, and cloves and season to taste.
Pour the béchamel on top of the mincemeat, smooth and sprinkle the rest of the grated halloumi on top for those nice crispy bits.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until sizzling and the top layer is golden and crispy.
Makaronia tou Fournou, translates to, ‘macaroni of the oven’, a legit traditional Cypriot pasta bake. If I make this for you, then you know I truly love you. This is a dish I’ve made many times and have perfected it down to a T. It’s one of those dishes that need to be made with love for it to be truly banging. There are three parts to this dish, the makaroni (which looks like a fat spaghetti on steroids), the mincemeat with a hint of tomato, dried mint, parsley and spices, and then finally the halloumi béchamel. Drooling as I write. I popped to the shops to try to find the pasta to make for Greek Easter but nothing so I might have to make it with penne this time. Good to know: I use a baking dish that’s approximately 6cm deep, 33cm long and 30cm wide.
