Cold and practicality

Being a cook for me is wonderful, there is no badtime or wrong time, everything is beautiful there, in the heart of the house … In fact, almost everything. Putting your hands in the cold water during the cold period is difficult rs think twice before planning meals here, so that they are practical and very warm, to warm the stomach and soul.

Broths, soups and creamy foods combine with this time of year, usually bring affectionate memories and are not always laborious, thus spending less time in the kitchen and less time with your hands freezing in the sink. Planning is everything, I already said that lol if you make a good amount at lunchtime, the evening will have your dinner ready, just heat up.

Here, creamy macaroni is the darling of the moment, we already made a pressure cooker (we call it Party Macaroni), in a normal pan (all together and mixed in a pan only from the beginning), the same as the pan later au gratin with a lot of cheese in the oven … And now, the fully oven, practical and stylish rs resembles a lasagna, but it is pasta 🙂

Creamy Oven Noodles

Ingredients
1 pc of 500g of pasta of your choice (taste of noodles in nest)
1 liter of very liquid sauce (300ml of tomato sauce + 700ml of your choice broth or water)
350g of braised ground beef or 350g of cooked and shredded chicken breast
1 grated carrot
2 garlic cloves
1/2 grated onion
350g of mozzarella
1 spoon of butter
500ml of milk
2 tablespoons of wheat flour
Nutmeg
1 Japanese broccoli
Green smell to taste
Oil of your choice
Salt and oregano to taste

Preparation mode

Tomato sauce: Sauté the garlic in oil, add the tomato sauce of your choice, bought or made at home. Add the grated carrot, meat or chicken and cook for 5 minutes. Add broth or water, season with salt, bring to a boil, add chopped green smell, turn off and set aside.

Bechamel sauce: Classic French cuisine, bechamel sauce is nothing more than a white sauce made with milk and thickened with flour and butter. The secret to making it delicious is to season it with nutmeg. Sauté the grated onion in butter, add the wheat flour, stir and gradually add the milk, stirring constantly so as not to get stuffed. When it starts to boil and has thickened, lower the heat, season with salt and freshly grated nutmeg, cook for +/- 5 min. Reserve.

On a baking sheet (can be made of glass, aluminum) place the raw pasta, the broccoli sanitized and cut into “florets”, and carefully pour the 1L of tomato sauce, arrange the meat with a spoon so as not to be concentrated in one place . Place the bechamel sauce, well spread and over the mozzarella, sprinkle oregano, cover with aluminum foil and bake, preheated to 200 °, for 45 minutes. After that time, remove the aluminum and let it brown for another 5 or 10 minutes (depending on your oven) and you’re done.

Tips:
– Meat is optional, you don’t need to add it, but if you want, you can also exchange canned tuna, sardines, shrimp, sausage, boiled eggs …
– If you don’t want to make the bechamel sauce, you can use curd instead, for a packet of pasta, use 2 cups.
– In place of the mozzarella, you can use parmesan, provolone or even white, cottage cheese.
– If you prefer cauliflower over broccoli, it is as good as even cubed zucchini.

Use your imagination, what matters here is to discover new flavors. Enjoy your food!

Written article for the newspaper A Cidade Ubatuba