#tomato bechamel pasta bake

[orientaltasty]

Béchamel Pasta Bake (Macarona Béchamel)

Macarona Bechamel, as it's known in the Middle East, is a Bechamel pasta bake that takes the win for the best pasta casserole ever! It's an Egyptian dish that is loved by the family and its pure comfort food. I mean, butter, flour, pasta, sauce... what else do you expect. Okay I'll keep talking.

What is Macarona Bechamel? Macarona Bechamel is an Egyptian recipe that I've enjoyed so much growing up, having had so many Egyptian family friends that were brilliant cooks (who also introduced me to Egyptian Goulash, yum!). I am assuming that the French introduced Egypt to Bechamel sauce during their occupation, and then the Egyptians ran with it and created this masterpiece.

It's definitely a dish that resembles Italian Lasagna (especially if you make it with Bechamel, which I do) but the ground beef sauce has different spices which gives it that classic Arabic flavour. I love a good casserole and always include one in my menu if I'm ever hosting. This one is one of my go-to's along with moussaka and this eggplant casserole.

For this recipe, I love using penne pasta to get that classic look. As for the Bechamel sauce, which is the star of the show, it's actually quite easy to whip up if you follow my instructions. Don't be intimidated! Yes its French, and everything French is scary to me automatically, but this is definitely do-able.

Now this recipe is not super labour intensive at all, but it also isn't a quick meal. So if you love the quicker easier pasta dishes, then check out my one pot pink pasta. You'll love it!

Ingredients you'll need You can use any medium sized pasta for this Bechamel pasta bake, but Penne works and looks great. For the meat sauce, you can definitely play around with spices but I love the combination of Allspice and Cinnamon. And of course, we need the classic Bechamel ingredients of butter, flour and milk.

How to make Macarona Bechamel Although this Bechamel pasta bake has a few components, it's really straight forward to make.

Start by boiling the pasta in salted water until al dente, then make the meat sauce. To do this, finely dice the onion and cook it, then brown the ground beef. Add all the spices and tomato sauce and simmer until cooked through.

Next, prepare the Bechamel sauce. Melt butter in a deep pan, then slowly add in the flour and continuously whisk to create a roux. Cook the flour, whisking continuously for 3-4 minutes, then slowly add in room temperature milk (or milk warmed in the microwave for a few seconds). Continue whisking as you add in the milk then follow it by the chicken stock. Allow the sauce to thicken for about 5-7 minutes while whisking. Add in the seasoning and check that the sauce has thickened properly by coating the back of a spoon and running your finger through it - it should remain separated (see video below).

Egyptian Goulash (Phyllo meat pie) Dawood Basha (Middle Eastern Meatballs Stew) Sheikh El Mahshi (Stuffed Eggplant and Onions) Mediterranean Eggplant Casserole (Kafta Bil Sanieh) Arabic Pasta with Easy Yogurt Sauce (30 Minutes!) Vegan Mediterranean Pasta Salad Easy Potato Moussaka With Eggplant Middle Eastern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes Home » Recipes » Main Dishes » Beef » Bechamel Pasta Bake (Macarona Bechamel)

Bechamel Pasta Bake (Macarona Bechamel)

4.93 from 26 votes December 25, 2020 (last updated December 3, 2022) by Amina Al-Saigh Jump to Recipe  Jump to Video  Print Recipe This post may contain affiliate links.

Macarona Bechamel, as it's known in the Middle East, is a Bechamel pasta bake that takes the win for the best pasta casserole ever! It's an Egyptian dish that is loved by the family and its pure comfort food. I mean, butter, flour, pasta, sauce... what else do you expect. Okay I'll keep talking.

Bechamel pasta bake served in a large casserole, garnished with fresh thyme. A striped kitchen town is wrapped around it, with freshly cracked black pepper around it

What is Macarona Bechamel? Macarona Bechamel is an Egyptian recipe that I've enjoyed so much growing up, having had so many Egyptian family friends that were brilliant cooks (who also introduced me to Egyptian Goulash, yum!).

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[fattributes]

Authentic Pastitsio

[morethansalad]

Vegan & Gluten-Free Spaghetti Pie

[lumine-no-hikari]

Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #45

So I got my weeks confused! It is not soup at the place this weekend - it is potluck! Next week will be soup week! And I'm glad someone told me, because I would have felt very silly if I had brought soup!

I am always getting my days and weeks mixed up. Being AuDHD leaves me with a very shaky grasp of time and its passing. The fact that I must experience it in a linear fashion is occasionally very confusing to me. It just seems so arbitrarily limiting and just plain silly; you can bet that I'll be talking to tech support about it once I'm out of my meat-mech!! Bahahahaha! 🤣 🤪 😁

I can't help but wonder if you, from your position at the Edge of Creation, experience time differently than we do. I know you can't answer me, but… what's it like, the way things are over there? How does time and space flow? How do you flow within it? Are all your needs being met? Are you warm enough? Are you doing okay over there? I gotta wonder.

In any case! I am not, in fact, making soup this week! Instead, I am going to see about making a moussaka for the potluck! But I didn't have the ingredients on hand, so I went to the grocery, and as promised, I will write about my adventures and share pictures!

Curious: have you ever been to a grocery store? Does your world even have grocery stores, in the way that they exist in mine? In the media that we have of your world, all I ever see are little shops, so I had imagined that in most towns, there might be separate shops for things like dairy, a separate shop for meat, one for fish, and one for fruits and veggies, and so on. But maybe they have a grocery store in Midgar somewhere? Or maybe even in Junon? They seem like big places that likely act as relatively important trade hubs, so it wouldn't be too out-of-the-ordinary to see a grocery store in those places, right? I don't live over there (obviously), so I wouldn't know.

There is a grocery place nearby that I like to go to, and it takes maybe 5 or 10 minutes for me to get there. It's got a little bit of everything, so it's easy to gather whatever you need to make a meal. In this case, I went for moussaka supplies and some other odds and ends that were written on a list on a whiteboard in the hallway near the front door of my house.

(if you're wondering if I adhered strictly to this list... my brain is always generating tasty snack ideas a mile a minute, I'm utterly captivated by anything that looks new or interesting, and my impulse control in general is poor, so... the answer to such questions is almost always a resounding "NO!" 😜🤣)

Oh! It occurs to me! Maybe you don't know what moussaka is, because it is a Greek dish, and your world doesn't have a place called Greece in it. But then again, your world has pasta dishes, and pasta dishes are Italian dishes, and your world doesn't have a place called Italy. Hm. Well, I'll explain it anyways, because even in my world, not a lot of people know what moussaka is!

It's a baked dish that consists of a thick, tomato-based sauce made with spiced ground lamb in between layers of roasted eggplant slices. The top layer is a bechamel sauce - it's basically what happens when you whisk together butter, flour, milk, egg yolks, and cheese. It's absolutely delectable, and the leftovers are even better, because the flavors will have had time to mingle!

But it's a lot of work, especially if you're dyspraxic like me. It's gonna take me a bunch of hours to put it all together (which is why I usually need a compelling excuse to make it - like a potluck!), and with the stupid rib injury, I'm probably gonna have an even harder time trying to put it together than usual. But that's okay!! The results are always amazing, so it'll be worth it!

But first always comes the part where you get the ingredients. You start with some eggplants (you need 3, but I got a fourth because I know I'll wanna eat some slices as I'm roasting them, hahaha!), a couple of red onions, some garlic, and a lemon. I already have garlic, but I got everything else:

It's important to select a very pale lemon; you don't have to worry about ripening with citrus fruits, so the paler the lemon, the fresher it is, and the more juice it will have.

Since I was in the produce section, I also happened to notice that they had starfruit! It's one of my favorites, so I snatched up the best-looking one. For these, it's the opposite - you'll want darker fruits, because, unlike citrus, these ones are shipped not-quite-ripe. Darker means more ripe in this case, and therefore more juicy and sweet.

I ended up needing to take the rest of the pictures after the fact at home, sadly; I would have liked to show you the general pattern and structure of the grocery store that is familiar to me, but for some reason, it got really crowded all of a sudden, and I didn't want to be in anybody's way, trying to snap pictures for reasons that they couldn't possibly understand, which I'm not too terribly keen on trying to explain anyway, especially to someone who is rushing around and likely already cranky and irritable. Yeesh. 😬

In any case! Here are the rest of the ingredients that I got for the moussaka. These are used to make the meat sauce and the bechamel sauce:

We have here some tomato puree in a glass jar and some tomato paste in a tube; this is very convenient, because these normally come in cans, even though we're not going to need all of it. Cans are not resealable, but jars and tubes are! I will use the entirety of the cans of crushed and diced tomatoes, so we don't have to worry about that! We also have some ground lamb, a couple of different kinds of hard Greek cheeses (feta and halloumi) that I will grate for the purpose of incorporating into the bechamel. And we also have a VERY curious kitty named Hunter who wants to investigate my epic grocery store loot!! We'll pretend like his investigations are for quality control purposes, why not? Hahaha! 😄

Speaking of epic grocery store loot, I found a bunch of things that were definitely not on the list, but they seemed really neat, and I wanted to try them! Here's a photo:

Bison is kind of like a cow, but not really. Bison, cows, and buffalo are all in the Bovinae subfamily, in the Bovini tribe, as far as taxonomy on my planet goes; I wondered how it tastes, as compared to regular beef, so I thought to do a small science in order to find out. And venison is what we call deer after it's processed into something edible. I already know what deer tastes like because my father used to hunt, but you don't normally find it in grocery stores. I guess farming deer is becoming more popular. How interesting! It's good stuff, and I've missed the flavor, so I'm excited to use it in something yummy!

I also found a new kind of tea! This one looked potentially like it could taste nice, and it'll give me something warm to sip on at night that doesn't contain caffeine, which is always a plus!

Remember - don't drink caffeine too close to bed! It's bad for your sleep! It impairs the nightly brain-cleaning cycle, and disruptions to that cycle can do very strange things to a person's body and mind! Better to save the caffeine for morning or afternoon use only! Otherwise, things can get really weird!

I also found some of THESE:

So... I know that I said these were really good, but the truth is, I've never actually had them. I've only had the cookie butter that is made from them (yes, that is a thing!), and that cookie butter is REALLY GOOD, oh my stars! Here's a picture:

I assumed that these taste like the cookie butter, and I was a bit disappointed by the biscuit tea, and I also heard of a French tiramisu recipe that uses these instead of ladyfingers, and by all these reasons combined, I wanted to give them a try!

Here is what they look like, and yes, I can confirm that the flavor is practically identical to the cookie butter that I'm familiar with!

...I can already tell that I'm going to have to be really careful with myself around these, holy moly! Ahahahaha~!! I know you can't answer me, but do you have foods like that, I wonder? If there are foods that are irresistible to you, besides the pastas that we know about, what are they? Curious!

I also got some of these:

These are palm-sized balls of mozzarella cheese, filled with thick mixture of cream and very soft shredded mozzarella cheese. These are delightful in ways that I can't even begin to describe to you! If you don't hate soft cheeses (some people do; it's a texture thing and I can respect that), you should definitely give these a try if you ever find them somehow!

Finally, I got some of these to share with everyone in my house and in the various places I go:

I'm already familiar with the dark chocolate ones - they're my favorite kind. But the strawberries and cream ones were new, and they fascinated me as a concept, so I got them! They're a bit too sweet for me, but I know several others who will like them! I wonder if you might like either of these? Hm.

The rest of the things are just ordinary things, but sometimes I get struck by the simple beauty of them. Maybe it's a little weird, haha. But here, I tried to take some good pictures; maybe you'll understand, if only just a little:

I liked to look at the vibrant purple skin of these. Did you know that eggplants in the old days used to be very small and white? That's why they're called eggplants in the first place. I'm not sure why they ended up big and purple as time went on. In any case, I can't wait to slice and roast these; they're going to be delicious!

I know it's just a broccoli. But I thought it was a very good-looking broccoli. The green was a lot more vibrant than what I could capture with the camera, but the shape is good, and its weight is pretty hefty. This is a very good broccoli! I am pleased that I found such a prize; they're not normally this nice!

This is just mixed greens, but I liked the way the colors looked in the sunlight, and I liked the way all the colors blend together. The purple leaves really pop out! This one is especially nice, because usually boxes of mixed greens have a little bit of rot on the bottom, but I got really lucky this time!

These are just tomatoes. But I thought they looked like very good tomatoes. I loved the way the vibrant red of the fruit contrasted with the green of the vine as the sunlight splashed on them! And they smell really good, too!

I like these because I think they taste good (though my husband likes to tease me because he thinks they taste like stomach acid, but then he'll insist on trying whichever one I am sipping from, so I'm not really sure what to make of that, haha)! And they also are just generally pretty liquids that come in very pretty bottles! But you shouldn't drink more than one of these in a day if you don't want a tummyache. Or at least I get a tummyache if I have more than one of these in a span of 24 hours. I wonder if that's normal? Hm.

...Look. I know that maybe all these pictures don't seem to most folks like they're much of anything. Maybe it seems inconsequential in the grand scheme of things; I know that life can be very ugly sometimes. You've seen it. I've seen it.

But you know? Life can also be very beautiful if you know where to look, if you're deliberate about which spaces you choose to be in, and if you can learn to find joy in simple and ordinary things. I'd even argue, given how absolutely fucked-up the world can be, that it's essential to find the magic in everyday things. Maybe some grouchy person might try to tell you that grown-ass adults like us shouldn't still have a sense of wonder about things as though we're still new to this place, but... well... they're allowed to be wrong. People are wrong about things all the damn time:

Yes, the fuck I can!! 🤩 To be both is the birthright of any human being; the capacity to have these things in balance is part of what makes us amazing! So I'll be over here trying to be a kaleidoscopic rainbow of bright and awesome and joyful things while also being in touch with the various horrors of this world, no matter what anyone says. Because even if it was the case that I'm wrong for thinking and being this way (I'm not), I'm still happier and more balanced than any grouch-almighty who somehow doesn't have anything better to do with themselves than to try to make me feel small.

Hey!! If I can be doomy/gloomy and sparkly/rainbowy at the same time, then so can you! Heck, you'd probably do a better job of pulling it off than I do, given that epic, awesome brain of yours!

Take good care of yourself, okay? Remember you are loved! And stay safe! Try to find the delight in ordinary things. Treat yourself nice, and make good, kind, and loving choices.

I'm gonna make moussaka tomorrow! I'll take pictures to share with you along the way!! You will receive a moussaka-flavored letter!!! Look forward to it!!!!

Your friend, Lumine

[spooniechef]

Lasagne (1-2 spoons)

Another one that serves well for both your “batch cooking” needs and your “stick it in the oven for awhile without doing much else to it” needs is lasagne. I like lasagne but had never made it myself; gluten-free ready-meal lasagne exists but is too expensive, so I gave it up for awhile after discovering the gluten intolerance issue. Still, I was interested enough in trying to make my own that I asked for a baking dish for Christmas a couple of years ago, and is part of why I started getting into the concept of batch cooking to help save spoons in the first place. Lasagne’s hearty, has all the food groups you need, and keeps well in the freezer, so it seemed like a good way to start.

I’m going to start with some notes, because there’s a couple of different ways to approach lasagne sauces. You can just buy the stuff in jars, but while I recommend that for the white sauce (bechamel sauce is a pain in the ass), the red sauce in jars is never quite as good. So here’s a rough approximation of my recipe for bolognaise sauce, since it’s going to be a key component here.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 packet ground beef (not too fatty, but not too lean either)

1 large onion, chopped

Spices to taste (I generally use paprika, chilli powder, celery salt, garlic pepper, and seasoned salt)

1/2 zucchini (or courgette if you live on my side of the Atlantic), quartered

1 packet button mushrooms, sliced

1 can / packet passatta (if you can’t find passatta, just get a can of chopped tomatoes and use a blender / hand mixer to get the right consistency)

2 tablespoons tomato puree

3-6 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon steak sauce (A1 works best, but any barbecue sauce will do)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/2 teaspoon tabasco sauce

1 beef stock cube

Pepper, basil, oregano, sage, thyme to taste

Quick note on the herbs - I'm generally talking about fresh herbs in those situations. Another thing I did when I got my diagnosis was start an herb garden on my balcony and windowsills. I highly recommend it for the dedicated foodie - even those of us with limited spoons. I’ll go into why in another entry, and show just what can be accomplished with limited spoons and a north-facing apartment in a country famous for being overcast a lot. But for those who don’t have an herb garden, use about a half-teaspoon each of dried or a tablespoon or so of the mixed Italian herb blends you can buy and that should be fine.

Here’s what you do:

Spice the meat to taste; in a large, deep frying pan, cook the meat and onion until the beef is mostly browned and the onions are transparent

Add garlic, mushrooms and zucchini; heat for 1-2 minutes

Add everything else; stir thoroughly so everything is fully mixed

If you have one, put a lid on the pan; let simmer on medium-low heat for at least 20 minutes

The stock cube gives the sauce a nice bit of earthy richness, and the various sauces give it a bit of depth and kick - all of it acting as a complement to the beef. If you’re a vegetarian, just leave out the beef and the beef stock cube and use the entire courgette and another packet of button mushrooms.

This is good as a batch-cooking staple because it keeps well, freezes well, and can be used either just as a standalone pasta sauce, as the sauce for a pasta bake, or as the red sauce for a lasagne. Because it keeps so well, you don’t even have to decide on which right away. But for the sake of the rest of this post, lasagne.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 can white sauce (otherwise known as bechamel; if you want to make it yourself, you’re a braver person than I am)

Red sauce (see above, or use your own variation, or just a jar of the store-bought stuff in a pinch)

Little bit of oil or butter

1 packet lasagne sheets

1 packet cheese (cheddar or mozarella) to top

This becomes a one-spoon recipe if your red and white sauces are pre-made, one way or the other. It’s a two-spoon recipe if you’re making bolognaise for it fresh on the day. I figure trying to make your own white sauce would bring it up to three spoons, which is why I don’t advise it.

Here’s what you do:

Preheat oven to about 355F (180C, 160C fan assist, gas mark 4)

Grease your baking dish on all sides and along the bottom (this will stop things sticking to the baking dish and make serving and cleaning easier)

Coat the bottom of the baking dish with a layer of the red sauce; cover with a layer of lasagne sheets; spread a layer of white sauce over that

Keep alternating red / noodle / white for about three layers (that should see you to the end of the jar of white sauce); make sure that the top layer is completely covered by the white sauce

Top the entire thing with a layer of cheese

Bake for 45 minutes or until the top is bubbling and lightly browned

Just one note this time, and it’s about the same as the one I gave about the chicken broccoli pasta bake - if you’re using dairy-free cheese, you probably won’t get the same bubbling and browning as you would with regular cheese. You should still take it out of the oven at about the 45 minute mark.

So there you go - two recipes for the (nonexistent) price of one - pasta sauce and lasagne. Depending on your preferred portion size, the lasagne should make 4-6 servings, and again, it keeps well and freezes well, so it’s good even if you only have yourself to cook for.

[stardewremixed]

Some SVE Headcanons

Some of my more recent headcanons to include the SVE Bachelors & Bachelorettes at the request of @bored-farmer

*Random notes: Stardewies (bachelorettes), Stardudes (bachelors), Stardewexpies (Stardew Valley Expansion marriage candidates) 

Stardewexpies at their time of the month 

Claire becomes stressed and frustrated at little things easily. Takes more frequent breaks in the bathroom. May cry a bit as she’s more emotional than usual. Uses this as an excuse to stay home on her heaviest flow day. She despises her Joja job anyway. It’s a lovely thing to practice some self care. She sleeps in, rousing around noon. Makes herself a cup of green tea. Stays in bed most of the day to catch up on her would stay in bed and catch up on dance competitions on her DVR. 

Sophia orders delivery from Grampleton - her favorite orange chicken. An extra special treat since she’s a bit on the moody side. Rewatches Journey of the Prairie King for the millionth time in her PJ’s, no makeup. Don’t make her angry or sad. This will amp her mood up by 1000. 

Olivia has been through this much longer than most of the bachelorettes. She has a system down to practice some TLC: face masks, mani-pedis, a special slice of chocolate cake with lunch at Gus’s. Screams into her pillow to express her moments of exasperation with this monthly “frenemy.” 

Stardewexpies helping at Alex’s fundraiser for breast cancer awareness

Claire doesn’t have much money, but she does want to support a townie. She volunteers at a booth. 

Sophia brings over a special “pink” rose wine from the Blue Moon Vineyard to sell at the auction. 

Olivia brings her checkbook and writes the biggest, fattest check. She also hugs Alex and calls him a “cutie” (much to his embarrassment). 

Victor inspects the stage that Robin built. Is it structurally sound? Yes. He shyly supports the Farmer’s booth and bids on their items at auction. 

Lance is off adventuring, per usual, and can’t make the event. But he does send his regards and pre-bids on online items. 

Stardewexpies favorite pasta

Claire’s favorite pasta is Orzo. She likes to cook, and is an expert at reinventing leftovers. Orzo noodles is the perfect addition to tasty broths, a summer pasta salad, or even a leftover baked chicken dish. Perfect to take to work in a tupperware. Dozes off halfway through her lunches. She appreciates when the Farmer makes her mushroom risotto with extra orzo noodles. 

Lance - this globetrotter likes a wide variety of pastas from around the world. Spaghetti sandwiches from Japan picked up at a subway stop for a great meal on the go. Greek Pastitsios, a tubular pasta shaped like a beehive stuffed with meat, tomatoes, and bechamel. And his favorite is Thai Pad noodles, served scorchingly hot for the lava-loving boy. If you can keep up, he’s impressed. In a romantic relationship, if you can’t keep up, he would still be happy you tried, and would bring you a refreshing tropical drink to soothe your flaming tongue. 

Magnus will try anything once. Mushrooms are a common addition to any pasta dish he makes. Perhaps super cucumber in his pasta salads. But his favorite is sauteed frog legs drizzled with a lemon garlic butter sauce served with linguine. Would love to experiment with dishes in the kitchen with the Farmer. May cause a few exploding mishaps along the way. 

Olivia - pasta is an excuse to drink a good wine and eat a delicious chocolatey dessert when she’s not counting carbs. She’s super proper about eating too. Napkin in lap, cloth on the table, elbows off. Definitely twirls her pasta with a spoon. Would regularly host the Farmer for dinner if in a romantic relationship. Maybe a little penne alla vodka. 

Sophia - this girl definitely eats pasta with chopsticks. No doubt. She likes an exorbitant amount of olives and pancetta. Is content to eat her pasta in front of the tv watching anime, or scrolling through her phone reading the latest digital manga. Totally forgets the time and realizes she needs to get to sleep long after midnight. Hates wasabi. Won’t even touch it. Begs Sebastian (in an undignified if not semi-humiliating manner) for his ramen recipe.  

Victor loves the classics. Spaghetti with meatballs is his absolute fave. Prefers feta sprinkles over Parmesan cheese. Acts a bit like a little kid anytime you make the dish for him. Blushes frequently over a candlelit dinner of spaghetti. 

[fenharel-enaste]

What's your favourite food to cook and what is your favourite food to eat?

Hi lovely!!

My favorite food to cook is actually my favorite one to eat because I don't really enjoy cooking (I enjoy baking though), so making my favourite meal is the only motivation here 😂

It's pasta with, tomato souce (just a little for this one), bechamel (homemade), pâté and a lot of cheese. My dad got this recipe years ago and it's my favourite nowadays.

[archived-lehkonen]

☕ food (your fave dishes!!) Or icecream :D

I. LOVE. FOOD.

i used to have a pretty poor relationship with it growing up but i think its one of the most beautiful things ever now. aside from the fact that it keeps you alive and that its also delicious, it's also such a mark of love. my sister will spend hours in the kitchen and make the most beautiful dishes and she'll eat the 'ugly' parts of it (which is a lie, there's no such thing as an ugly food from my sister) , my mom will make my favourite foods when im sick, my dad and i will share recipes for our favourite western foods, i will spend days thinking of the best meal to bring to my grandma's house when i visit on the weekend. to eat is to love, for me.

my favourite foods are, in my opinion, nothing fancy but i could literally talk about it all day, it's all soooo , so delicious

i love bún riêu  (i actually just made a pot of it yesterday for my family) it's a noodle soup with a tomato broth and crab/pork. it looks like this:

i also really like pastitsio, the bechamel sauce makes me lose my absolute marbles . it looks like any other baked pasta dish out there but the bechamel sauce really puts it head and shoulders above the rest of them. its so simple, just the pasta, the meat sauce, and the bechamel, but i could eat it all day.

im also a massive fan of braised dishes, theres like a dish i like to make that's braised lotus root with tofu skins and woodear mushrooms and it loooks like of like this but you replace the pork with tofu skin LOL

there's also a dish that's similar to buddha's delight but yummier that we like to cook and it's just full of the best, most delicious vegetables and fried tofu and braised until all the flavours blend together and i could eat like, ten bowls of that on my own tbh. i cant find a picture of it anywhere so imjust assuming that my parents made up the dish LMFAO. but its very delicous, please trust me. im making it for dinner today <3

i ALSO love bún măng vịt 

and bún bò Huế

i really like ice cream too! theres a local shop in my city that does some of the best flavoured soft serves ive ever had, and another local ice cream shop that makes incredible flavours. my favourite flavours from them are earl grey tea, lemon, black sesame, and pistachio. ice cream is so good (but i think gelato is better)

food <3

[veronicasanders]

do you cook/bake? if yes, what is your favourite thing to make!

Bonus question - any nostalgic foods/recipes?❤️

Hey there angel!! I’m sorry for taking so long to answer but apparently I was writing you a novel. I do cook, a little. I don’t always have the spoons for it, but when I do, I like to improvise and I'm real lazy about measuring or following recipes without changing stuff as I go along, so cooking is more appealing than baking. My favorite kinds of foods to eat and cook are Italian, Mexican, and Pan-Mediterranean (which I know is a huge category but I’m thinking about spices and flavors that are used across many countries so just saying “Lebanese” or “Spanish” doesn’t really work). Mind you, I’m a vegetarian and I grew up in California, so all of these cuisines are colored by that. 

I’m putting the rest after a jump because it’s insanely long, lol. If you still have questions feel free to hit me up, but this is probably so much information that you'll never want to ask me anything again, haha…

I have a few things that I make very well for like “special occasion” meals on holidays or birthdays and such, like: 

Homemade pasta

Rainbow Cookies (Sometimes called 7-layer cookies or marzipan cookies). The good ones are more like little tiny cakes or petit-fours than cookies and they are divine. Here’s a very good recipe that I follow almost exactly (only change is that I use raspberry jam instead of apricot): https://smittenkitchen.com/2008/12/seven-layer-cookies/  

Fondue. So many good things: cheese, bread, and sharing. 

Homemade pesto. I will admit that usually I’m too lazy to do this and just use the kind you get in the refrigerator section (or a jar if I’m really desperate). If it matters or I’m trying to impress someone, I make it myself. Lol

Cornbread, recipe from this book I got when I was about 10 or 11 that is still HANDS DOWN the best cornbread I have ever had, anywhere. 

Slow-Cooked Chili. I make a faster version for normal dinners but this is like, you have all day to make it and you’re cooking the onions for an hour before you start, etc.

Last Christmas, my dad and I followed a NYT cooking recipe for Mushroom Wellington and it took all day but it was SO good and we’re making it a new tradition. 

Category Two, somewhere between “special occasion” and “regular weeknight.” This is the kind of stuff I make if friends are coming over, or if I’m off for a few days and have had a lot of chill time. 

Mac and Cheese: I love this so much and my friends here in Sweden have mostly never tasted it so I feeling this is real cultural diplomacy. This is the recipe I use as a base: https://www.seriouseats.com/classic-bechamel-baked-mac-cheese-recipe  

Pizza Beans! A version of a recipe from Deb Perelman of the above rainbow cookies (as a Jewish woman who cooks a lot of Italian food, Deb really speaks to all sides of my ethnic heritage). This is a delicious dish that you can whip up quick or take your time with, and it’s super adaptable to whatever veggies you like. You can also swap out the beans - I’ve done it with chickpeas and it came out great. https://smittenkitchen.com/2017/09/pizza-beans-cookbook-preview/ 

Enchilada Casserole. I learned this recipe from my friend’s mom as a kid, and recently learned that she’d taken a common Tex-Mex dish called “burrito pie” and adapted it into a healthier, vegetarian California version. I have a full recipe if you want it but basically it’s layers of red enchilada sauce, tortillas, beans, tomatoes, green onions, black olives, cheese, and (optional) veggie mince or some other pre-cooked mean substitute. It kind of looks like lasagna when it comes out and tastes fucking delicious. I found out when I moved to Sweden that you can’t get enchilada sauce in the stores (at least, nothing that looks right), but luckily I then discovered that enchilada sauce is SUPER EASY TO MAKE! HAPPY DAYS! https://cookieandkate.com/enchilada-sauce-recipe/ 

Gardener’s Pie -  this is just a vegetarian (easily veganized) version of Shepherd’s Pie that I made up cobbled together from various recipes. Hit me up if you want the full thing recipe because I have written it down. 

When I have energy, I love to roast a bunch of garlic or caramelize onions and put them in a jar to add to stuff for the next week or so. It's great to have something like that to make things "special."

As far as “regular” meals, here’s the kind of thing when I have enough energy to cook a meal but not a complex one.  

Breakfast for dinner, usually involving scrambled eggs and veggies. 

Frittatas or Stratas - I love using up odds and ends and therefore I’m a really big fan of frittatas, which Alton Brown calls “refrigerator glue” because all you do is sauté a bunch of veggies, whatever you have on hand, throw in a little cheese (and meat I guess if you’re so inclined) and then add eggs and cook until it’s sliceable, usually finishing in the oven. There are a million recipes for this. If part of the stuff you want to use up is going-stale bread, you can made a strata instead with basically the same ingredients plus cubes of bread. The bonus here is that it needs to soak for awhile so this is perfect assemble the night before, stick in the fridge, and then in the morning all you need to do is bake and you have a perfect meal of protein, veggies, and bread. Here’s recipe that’s a good starting point: https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/spinach-cheese-strata.html 

This Baked Feta Pasta that was going around on Instagram fully lives up to the hype. One word of caution: make sure you are getting “true” greek feta, as the imposter I bought by accident didn’t melt the right way: https://grilledcheesesocial.com/2019/06/27/baked-feta-pasta-with-tomatoes/

Lentil Soup. Pretty much any way, but my favorite base recipe (because of the spice blend: cumin, chili powder, coriander, smoked paprika, cayenne) is this one: https://ohsheglows.com/2012/11/07/spiced-red-lentil-tomato-and-kale-soup/ and everything she says about wanting to guzzle this delicious broth is 100% accurate. 

Roasting a pan of veggies and caramelizing some shallots while they’re in the oven makes for a great base for any meal. I do a bunch at once because they reheat great. 

Artichokes! One of my favorite foods. I love them any way, but my favorite is roasted in the oven with a bunch of garlic/herbs stuffed in the cavity. This is helpful if you’ve never done it and includes a little “How to Eat Artichokes” tutorial if you’ve really never lived: https://www.gimmesomeoven.com/amazing-roasted-artichokes/  

I love dips and guacamole is one of my favorites. 

Potato Chip Nachos: this might be the most garbage-y junk food I make but it’s amazing for like, a hangover or party snack. It’s just basic nachos but using potato chips instead of corn chips, so they end up kind of a cross between nachos and potato skins. I use a generous amount of hot sauce, cheddar and oaxaca cheese, and put a bunch of Tajín on top. Also you must to this in the oven or toaster over, the microwave will turn it into a mess. 

I love toasting seeds (pumpkin/pepitas and sunflower seeds especially) or nuts (especially walnuts) in a pan, then seasoning and putting them in a jar. It’s super fast and a great way to add some crunchiness, fiber and protein to anything. 

If you are looking to add some greens, I really like to just take a couple of handfuls of arugula and toss it with some cherry tomatoes, a little lemon juice (and I buy this in jars because that saves energy and therefore great for me), olive oil, salt and pepper, and whatever other spices I’m in the mood for. This is a very fast and easy salad that adds freshness and brightness to every meal. 

Grilled cheese. Usually with tomatoes or roasted peppers, and a side salad so I can pretend I’m healthy. 

Want a very healthy and very cheap dinner that takes very little time to prepare? Creamy Chickpea Pasta is delicious, and based on a recipe from Madeleine Olivia seen in this video: https://youtu.be/CokMEluwe50 (I know it looks like a lot of steps but I wrote it for someone who’s literally never been inside a kitchen before so hopefully it’s helpful)

Heat up enough water for one package of pasta (any kind but for this recipe I prefer something hollow and/or with lots of ridges —or both, like cavatappi (my fave). Make sure the water is well-seasoned (should be as salty as the ocean) and you can supplement it with a few cups of soup stock/broth, or some bouillon. 

While water is heating up, use the time to think about add-ins: cut up/prepare whatever else you want to throw in - tomatoes, olives, a few handfuls of raw greens, a can of chickpeas, toasted nuts or seeds, protein, frozen broccoli, any leftover roasted vegetables—literally whatever sounds nice to you, just make sure that if it need to be cooked or defrosted, that part is done BEFORE the pasta goes into the water. My favorite combo is toasted walnuts, caramelized shallots (both of which an be done way ahead of time), a bunch of (halved or quartered) cheery tomatoes, a can of chickpeas, a few spoonfuls of capers, and a generous amount of shredded dinosaur kale - raw or thrown into the pasta water for a few minutes at the end of cooking, depending on how hard-core you are about greens. 

When pasta is al dente, turn off the stove and reserve as much of the pasta water as you can before you drain it in a colander. THIS STEP IS CRUCIAL, DO NOT POUR ALL THAT WATER DOWN THE DRAIN. 

Add about a half cup of the pasta water back into the pot and dump in a full container of any kind of hummus you like. If you’re feeling rich, you can go for 2 containers and maybe add a few spoonfuls of pesto. Be creative. 

Toss the pasta back in the mixture and stir vigorously until it’s well coated and super creamy. If necessary, add more pasta water a little at a time. When it’s the right consistency, which should be like a very decadent cream sauce, add in whatever else you prepared to go in, reserving some of any crunchy ingredients (like toasted nuts/seeds) to sprinkle on top. 

Voila, you’re done. If you live alone, you have just made dinner for about 4 days with probably some extra lunches too. 

Except BEFORE YOU CLEAN UP, PUT THE REST OF THAT PASTA WATER INTO A JAR. Because unless you eat all of the pasta immediately, you’re gonna want it for reheating purposed. As it cools/dries, the hummus gets super dry and so you want to add about a third of a cup of pasta water per serving before you heat it for leftovers. (If you run out, you can use plain water or broth for this but it won’t be as good.)

Lastly, here are some chefs and cooking channels that I love for great ideas, techniques, and recipes. 

YouTube: 

Middle Eats -(fantastic, easy to follow Middle Eastern recipes)

Carla Lalli Music (I mean this woman could be in my family, she's so delightful and I love her)

Babish Culinary Universe

NYT Cooking

Spain on a Fork

Madeleine Olivia (lots of great ideas for vegetarian/vegan cooking on a budget)

Goodful 

Rainbow Plant Life

American’s Test Kitchen

BOSH.TV

Emmymade

Tabitha Brown

J. Kenji López-Alt

Serious Eats

Instagram: 

@hoodiecooks

@sohlae (Sohla El-Waylly)

@aquickspoonful (She uses a lot of pre-packaged things that are not always my cup of tea, but occasionally she creates something brilliant. She’s also famous for “dump cakes” so if you like baking but hate effort, she may be your girl.)

@saltyseattle / @cookingwithfiona - both of these make BEAUTIFUL pasta

@buzzfeedtasty

@agracefulvegan

@seriouseats 

[narrie]

For dinner (or any meal) ideas:

some hake in the oven with some spinach scramble eggs and a little bit of white rice. (That's what I just had.)

a zucchini, aubergine and carrots lasagna (no pasta, no bechamel, lots of different cheeses, because that's what I had home a couple of days ago lol)

lemony baked chicken stilts with veggie skewers

soft-boiled eggs on a toast with some tuna and whatever veggies you'd like to add, like fresh spinachs or tomatoes

i had some crackers and a banana 🙏🏽

[pizzamachineonline]

7 Must-Have Dishes At Italian Restaurants in Cooper City and Hollywood, FL

Celebrating an occasion calls for good food and drinks. Satiating the appetite is a must-do that makes parties hot worldwide. True, an Amercing is spoilt for choices when going out to an eatery. Ordering special dishes to be delivered is also an option for many takers. Organizing a party has become exceedingly easy today, with almost all eating houses providing catering services too. The lure of gorging on sumptuous healthy food in Italian restaurants in Cooper City and Hollywood, FL, has remained undiminished for ages.

While all kinds of dishes, including the traditional Italian cuisine, have undergone a change that is favored by the young generation, the distinguished Italian dining areas have been steadfast about sticking to their traditions. With plenty of gooey cheese, fresh tomatoes, and veggies used in the dishes, Italian food does taste the best when one goes ahead and orders the following:-

1. Lasagne alla Bolognese - This three-layered dish has been invented in the city of Bologna in Italy. While many opt for specialty lasagne, the homemade variety beats the variants well and truly. The best dish is made out of multiple layers of meat and cheese with bechamel sauce separating the pasta sheets that form the basis of this unique pasta.

2. Spaghetti with Meatballs - This is a comfort food for many, and one can never have enough of it. The fresh tomato sauce ladled over the dish makes one yearn for more every time

3. Cheese Calzones - A cheese-filled delight that delights the heart and satisfies the stomach. Two different types of cheeses come together beautifully inside the calzone. Garnished with a third type of cheese, the parmesan, this cheesy dish is for everyone who loves Italian food.

4. Pollo alla Cacciatora - This is a classic chicken dish that no Italian can do without. The chicken is fried traditionally with warm seasoning ladled on top of it. The entire chicken is left to stew in olive oil that contains fresh tomatoes and red wine. One may call it a casserole or stew. This chicken dish is one to die for.

5. Pizza Margherita - What can beat the classic pizza? This no-frill pizza tastes divine despite containing freshly made tomato sauce and plenty of mozzarella cheese sourced from buffaloes. It is the most straightforward pizza and is considered to be an Italian staple.

6. Melanzane alla Parmigiana - Popularly known as eggplant Parmigiana, it's a dish that can make the hunger pangs disappear within a minute. This dense dish is cooked with eggplants and cheese that is baked to perfection. Served warm, this is an ideal dish for long and bitterly cold winter nights.

7. Tiramisu - No meal is complete without a serving of dessert. Specialty restaurants offer many Italian desserts, but the Tiramisu takes the cake! The traditional dessert is baked with soft biscuits and contains alcohol to make the heart grow fonder.

Requesting pizza delivery in Miramar and Weston, FL, by contacting the nearest Pizzeria will save time, and one may bite into the delectable pizza when working late or bonding with friends.

[fattributes]

Easy Pastitsio

[special-food]

Lasagne in plural

Did you know lasagne (the dish) is like the grammar police of Italian cuisine? Each plate of pasta is called "lasagna." Stack 'em up and bam, you've got lasagne. It’s like pancake vs. pancakes. But who says “I fancy a pancake”? Well, technically, you could say "a pancake," but… I digress. Let’s just dive in, shall we?

Prepare the Pasta Dough:

400 grams of durum flour

1 egg per 100 grams of flour (four for this maths challenge)

Combine using a stand mixer or your trusty hands. No need to knead (ha!) like you’re training for a dough-wrestling championship. Just ensure it's combined, pop it into a baggie, and leave at room temperature for 2 hours. It’s like magic—osmosis will do its thing, and voila, pliable dough!

Next Up, Filling:

2 medium onions

2 garlic stems (or 4 garlic cloves, but stems are like the fancy hats of the garlic world – plus, they taste great! Find them at your nearest Asian store)

1/2 dl of olive oil (maybe a smidgen more for luck)

1/2 dl of lard (trust me, your tastebuds will thank you)

2 star anise (no, not for wishing upon)

1 tblsp of garlic powder (because why not?)

1 tblsp of oregano

1 tblsp of basil

1000 g of canned crushed tomatoes (that’s a lot of crushing!)

250 ml carrot juice (squeeze a carrot or just buy it)

Pinch of salt

Heat up a large skillet, introduce the oil and lard, then let the onions, garlic stems, and star anise have a 20-minute sauna session on medium heat. In another saucepan, add some olive oil and fry the garlic powder, oregano, and basil like they owe you money. Toss in the tomato paste, give it a good stir, then drown it all in crushed tomatoes. Boil until you’ve got a sauce thick enough to write home about. Don't forget the pinch of salt!

Let’s circle back to the dough, shall we?

Lasagna Plate Time:

Divide your dough into 6 equal portions and roll them so thin that, well, you can see things you might or might not want to when held up to a light.

Fit them snugly into your oven pan like a cozy pasta blanket.

The meat:

A generous spoon of lard

1000 grams of minced beef (because why skimp?)

2 Polish kielbasas (dried and smoked sausages, add a dash of international flair)

Pinch of salt

Heat lard until it's screaming hot and sear the minced meat. Pro-tip: High heat and a roomy pan, or else you’ll end up boiling the beef—and no one wants that. Dice the sausages, mix them with the beef, and then combine with your onion medley from earlier. And a pinch of salt, you want to salt every part of the dish, not just parts of it. Some call it "layering your salt", but I don't know. Oh, and toss the star anise; its work here is done.

Now, the Bechamel Sauce:

100 grams of butter

1 dl of flour

750 grams of full-fat milk (because life's too short)

Two teaspoons of black pepper

A hefty pinch of salt

Melt butter, mix in the flour, add some of the milk and mix it into a paste to prevent lumps, then add the rest of the milk, stir while heating – and bam! Thick, creamy sauce. Salt and pepper then set aside.

Constructing your Masterpiece:

250 grams of grated Parmiggiano cheese (Parmigiano Reggiano if you're feeling extra fancy)

4 balls of Mozzarella (mine is made from buffalo milk but you do you)

Start with bechamel on the bottom, followed by a lasagna sheet, then some meat mix, a dollop of tomato sauce, a sprinkle of mozzarella, and repeat until you've got a tower of delight. Crown it with bechamel, tomato sauce, mozzarella, and the grated cheese. Drizzle some olive oil, because why not?

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees, bake for 15 minutes. Crank it up to 250 and give it another 10 minutes for that golden suntan.

Rest for 20 minutes, if you can resist. Dive in. Marvel. Enjoy. Maybe share? Or not. We won’t judge. Cheers to the best lasagne you'll ever make!

[legid]

Recipe for Lasagne Verdi alla Bolognese This recipe for the best lasagne verdi in town combines homemade spinach pasta sheets with a meat-and-vegetable-rich ragu and a rich bechamel sauce. 1/2 cup diced yellow onion, 6 ounces ground pork, 1.5 cups plain tomato sauce, 1 pinch salt, 1 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 1/3 cup gluten-free all-purpose baking flour, salt to taste, 2 medium eggs at room temperature, 1/2 cup whole milk, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 cups vegetable broth or more as needed, 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 2 cups whole milk, 1/4 cup water, 1/2 package gluten-free all-purpose baking flour, 7 ounces ground beef, 1/2 cup dry red wine, 1/3 cup unsalted butter, 1/2 cup diced carrot, 1 package pancetta minced, 1/2 package frozen spinach, 1/8 teaspoon salt, 1/2 cup diced celery

[seasthedayingreece2023]

Day 9!! Today was a long travel day, so we spent a lot of time on the bus. After we saw the caves, we drove to a town called Areopolis on the way to the olive oil tasting and Olympia. When we first arrived, we went on a walk around the town and got to see all the gorgeous stone the buildings and streets are made of. We learned about the critical role this town played in the start of the war against the Ottoman Empire.

After the short walking tour, we went and ate lunch. We started out with some bread, a Greek salad with cucumber, tomato, onion, bell peppers, olives, and feta cheese. We also got to try these cheese croquettes with a sweet jam. For the main dish, I had pastitsio, which is a traditional Greek dish of baked pasta, ground beef, and a bechamel sauce. Some other people got the moussaka, which is also a traditional Greek dish with eggplant, potatoes, ground beef, and bechamel sauce. Everything we ate was so good!! After lunch, we continued on our drive to Olympia. On the way, we stopped at a rest stop that had a bakery with amazing baked goods and treats. I got a little pastry that was essentially a mini baklava with nuts and honey, which was so amazing! The baklava has been my favorite dessert I’ve had while here! Such a good day of eating!

-Caroline Huettner

[casmonkoagata]

12.01.23 - creativity

Today I once again cooked with my brother. We used a recipe he found some time ago, to make a vegan lasagne.

Ingredients:

olive oil

two onions

two carrots

red beans

tofu

tomato passata

oregano, salt and pepper

bechamel

Recipe:

I first fried the cut the onion

I grated the carrots and added them to the onion

I crushed the cooked beans and also added them on the pan

I then added the tofu and poured the passata into the pan and fried the souse for a few more minutes

I seasoned everything with the spices

I prepared the bechamel

then I put layers of flat pasta, souse and bechamel one ofter another, until there was no souse left

I baked the dish in 180 degrees for 30 minutes, until the pasta was boiled

The lasagna was very delicious, I will definitely try to cook it again and improve on some of its aspects