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Baked macaroni and beef ragu with Mornay sauce

Baked macaroni and beef ragu with Mornay sauce

Slow cooker beef ragu, pasta and Mornay sauce are assembled in an oven-safe dish and baked until bubbly. It’s the ultimate mac and cheese. Meaty. Cheesy. Lovely.
Course Main Course, Snack
Cuisine Fusion
Keyword Macaroni, Slow cooker
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 7 hours
Servings 6 people

Equipment

  • Slow cooker

Ingredients

Ragu

  • 1 kilogram stewing beef (2.2 pounds) cut into one-inch cubes
  • salt
  • pepper
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 6 cloves garlic peeled and chopped
  • 2 sprigs oregano leaves only
  • 2 bell peppers chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 cups diced tomatoes canned is fine
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1½ cups red wine

Pasta

  • 200 grams macaroni (7 oz)
  • ½ teaspoon salt

Mornay sauce

  • 2 cups Béchamel sauce
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella
  • ¼ cup grated Pecorino

Instructions

Cook the ragu

  • Pat the beef dry with paper towels then toss with a tablespoon of salt and half a teaspoon of ground black pepper.
  • Heat the olive oil in a wide pan.
  • Spread the beef cubes in the hot oil and, over high heat, leave to allow the undersides to brown for a minute or so. Stir the beef and continue cooking, tossing them around in the hot oil occasionally, until all sides are lightly browned.
    Browning cubed beef before sauteeing with onion, garlic, oregano, bell pepper and bay leaves
  • Turn down the heat to medium, and add the onion, garlic, bell pepper, bay leaves, oregano, a tablespooon of salt and a quarter teaspoon of pepper. Cook, stirring, until the vegetables soften.
  • Pour in the diced tomatoes, stir in the sugar, and bring to a simmer.
    Adding diced tomatoes and red wine to beef in pan
  • Add the red wine, stir and allow to boil gently for about ten minutes.
  • Taste and adjust the seasonings, if needed.
  • Transfer the meat, sauce and vegetables to the slow cooker.
    Beef and sauce in slow cooker
  • Set the slow cooker to LOW and cook the ragu for five hours.

Cook the macaroni

  • Preheat the oven to 400F.
  • Cook the macaroni in boiling water with the salt.
  • When the noodles a just a bit undercooked, drain and return to the pan.
  • Take half of the ragu (reserve the other half for another time) and stir into the pasta. Transfer the pasta and meat sauce to a baking dish.
    Pasta tossed with ragu / Mornay sauce in pot

Make the Mornay sauce

  • Start by making Béchamel sauce.
  • Add the cheeses to the hot sauce and stir until melted.

Bake

  • Pour the Mornay sauce over the pasta and meat sauce.
  • Bake at 400F for 30 minutes or until bubbly and the top of the Mornay sauce has brown spots.
    Baked macaroni with Mornay sauce straight out of the oven

Serve

  • To get cleaner cuts of baked mac and cheese, allow it to rest for at least ten minutes. Resting gives the sauces in the dish time to firm up a bit.
    Baked macaroni and beef ragu with Mornay sauce