Baked macaroni

This is one of our favourites. It’s not difficult to make, but it’s a bit tedious, because most of the ingredients needs to be processed first. This portion is quite large, approximately for 12 persons as main course, a suitable size for my big family.

Ingredients:
Macaroni 500g RM4.20
Cheddar cheese 250g RM8.90
Mushroom 425g 3.90
Chicken breast/keel 2 pc RM4.00
Mixed vegetables 500g RM3.20
One large onion RM0.20
6 large eggs RM1.80
Salt and pepper to taste RM0.10
Butter 2 tablespoons RM0.20

Estimated cost: Total RM26.50, Cost per portion: RM2.20
Estimated time: 60 minutes preparation, 20 minutes baking

Instructions:
1. Boil pasta according to packet instructions. Boil the chicken until cooked.
2. In the meantime, grate the cheese, cube the onion (small cubes), and blanch the mixed vegetables and mushrooms.
3. Shred the chicken to small pieces, and cut the mushrooms. Don’t throw away the chicken broth, add this to the pasta for the chicken flavour.
4. Now it’s time to assemble the ingredients! Heat the butter in a large wok or pot, then saute the cubed onions.
5. Then put the pasta, chicken (meat and broth), mixed vegetable and mushrooms in the pot and stir to mix. Season with salt and pepper to taste (can start with a teaspoon of each).
6. Turn off the fire, then add the eggs (beaten in a separate bowl) and half of the grated cheese. Note: it’s important to turn off the fire first, otherwise the eggs will cook and become like scrambled eggs, which we don’t want! The eggs here functions like a ‘glue’ that will keep the pasta together when baked.
7. Pour into suitable ware for baking (I used 3 medium-sized Corning), sprinkle the remaining half of the grated cheese on top of the pasta, and put them in the oven at about 175 degrees for 20 minutes or until the cheese crust on top turned golden brown.


Some additional notes:
Other shapes of pasta is fine too, just don’t choose spaghetti or fettuccini. Fresh mushrooms are better than canned one, of course, but they’re more difficult to find and more expensive too. Some brands come with sliced mushrooms, so this can save time. As with pre-shredded cheese, though of course it’ll be more expensive. Another shortcut is to buy minced chicken. But you have to cook them first (fry them after the butter and onions) before adding the rest of the ingredients. It doesn’t have to be chicken breast or keel, other parts are also fine, you just have to debone them. Use more chicken if you prefer. You can use fresh vegetable instead of the frozen mixed vegetable (which is the most convenient) for example carrot, broccoli, and capsicum. It would be interesting to bake these in individual ramekins, but I don’t have any (yet).


This is my beloved cheese grater, a gift from a good friend some 7 or 8 years ago. I like it because the grater grates right into the container, allowing no spill, and the container comes with the lid (the white one underneath) – such an efficient design. MHH and I both looove cheese but unfortunately cheese (and other dairy products too, for that matter) is quite expensive here in Malaysia, so we don’t have them as often as we’d like.