This recipe is adapted from one called “Meat-Macaroni Supper” in the Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. The original calls for a can of condensed cream of celery soup, which I can't readily find here in Alsace, and a can of “luncheon meat” (Spam, I guess?) which isn't available, either, at least not with ingredients I want to eat.
Celery stalks haven't always been available here as consistently as they now are, so I usually didn't include celery; if one does, the choice of slice, dice, or chop depends on the texture one wants it to give to the casserole, so I'm not specifying.
| Cook macaroni | ||
|---|---|---|
| 4 | servings | cooked macaroni (240g before cooking). 1) |
| Prepare cream of celery soup substitute | ||
| * | Preheat oven to 350° F, (=175°C) | |
| 3 | Tb | butter |
| 1/2 | C | chopped onion |
| 1/2 | C | sliced, diced, or chopped celery (optional) |
| In a sauce pan (suitable for making a 2-C Béchamel), sauté onions (and celery) in butter until soft but not browned. Remove and set aside, leaving as much butter as possible in the pan | ||
| 2 | Tb | flour |
| 2 | C | milk |
| 1 | C | (=4 oz=115g) grated cheese (Emmenthal, Gouda, Edam, Pyrenées, etc.) 2) |
| Béchamel→Mornay : cook flour in butter a couple of minutes on low (but do not brown). Add milk, whisk and heat until thick and bubbly. Add grated cheese, reserving about 1/4 C. |
||
| Assemble and bake | ||
| 1 | can | (= 8 oz. = 230g) peeled tomatoes, broken into pieces. The juice, too. |
| 1/4 | tsp | thyme |
| 1/4 | C | bell pepper, chopped |
| 12 | oz. | hot dogs (poultry hot dogs), quartered length-wise and cut into 1.5-inch lengths. |
| Mix together sauce, macaroni, onion (and celery) with all the remaining ingredients. | ||
| Turn in to a baking dish, top with remaining grated chees. | ||
| Bake 35-40 minutes | ||