Ingredients
200g mince
0.5 small onion
finely chopped
½ cup basil, or parsley
⅓ cup breadcrumbs
for meatballs
½ cup breadcrumbs
for topping
50g butter
for sauce
1 butter
for buttering dish
2 tbsp butter
for topping
3 tbsp flour
3 cups milk
to taste salt and pepper
1 cup tasty cheese
grated
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
250g macaroni or any small pasta
cooked and cooled
Allergy Advice
Contains Dairy
Contains Gluten
Equipment
- 1 Mixing bowl
- 1 Plate or baking sheet
- 1 Lasagne dish
- 1 Heavy-based saucepan
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Frying pan
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, mix together the mince, onions, herbs and 1/3 cup breadcrumbs.
- Roll into 3cm balls and place onto a plate or baking sheet and chill in the fridge.
- Preheat oven to 180C. Butter a lasagne dish with the 1 teaspoon butter and set aside.
- In a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat, melt the 50g butter. Once melted, add flour to the pan and stir to make a paste.
- Gradually whisk milk in, adding salt and pepper to taste. Keep whisking until it begins to bubble and thicken then stir cheese through until melted and remove from heat.
- In a frying pan, bring the oil to a medium heat and brown the meatballs on all sides, setting them aside once browned.
- Melt the last 2 tbsp butter and mix the last half a cup of breadcrumbs through.
- Layer half the pasta, then the cheesy sauce, then pasta, the meatballs and lastly, pour over the remaining cheese sauce.
- Top with breadcrumbs and bake for 20-25 minutes until top is golden brown.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Tip
This really needs to be served with a green salad of some sort as its really rich.
Variation
I used some thick alphabet pasta I had leftover in the pantry and it was really cute!
