baked mac and cheese with bechamel sauce

We had been watching the live broadcast of the Johnny Depp versus Amber Heard defamation case, and I didn’t want to miss any part of it to stir the ragu every so often. Just cover the pan tightly, set the heat to low and leave to simmer for a couple of hours until the meat is so tender that when you pierce a piece with a fork, it falls apart.īut the day I made the ragu, I wasn’t in the mood for occasional stirring - a must when cooking stew on the stovetop to make sure that no scorching occurs when the liquid evaporates faster than the meat cooks. The ragu can be cooked all the way on the stovetop. When the sauce comes to a simmer, red wine is poured in. The mixture is cooked with occasional stirring until the vegetables have softened.ĭiced tomatoes and a bit of sugar are stirred in. Chopped onion, garlic, bell peppers, oregano, bay leabes, salt and pepper are added. The meat cubes are stirred and the cooking continues until they are lightly browned on all sides. The cubes of beef are spread in the hot oil and, over high heat, left until the undersides are browned. I start by heating a couple of tablespoons of olive oil in a wide pan.

We’re fortunate enough to find a meat shop that sells beef short plate as a regular item.

Then, we discovered how much richer in texture ragu is when chunks of stewing beef are used instead. We’ve almost always used a combination of coarsely ground beef and sausage meat in the past. If you want to make ragu, decide first whether to use ground meat or meat chunks. In the northern regions of Italy, minced meat is used while chunks are preferred in the south. Traditionally, cooked pasta is tossed in the ragu, the noodles soak the flavors of the sauce, and the combination is served as a single dish. In Italian cooking, ragu is a meat-based sauce.

Baked mac and cheese with bechamel sauce