Cheesy Beef And Macaroni

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 2 Tablespoons white wine *Optional
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1 Tablespoon spicy brown mustard
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/8 cup all purpose flour
• 2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded,and divided
• Serves 4

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Grease a large baking dish with olive oil. Set aside.
3. To cook pasta, fill a large pot 2/3 of the way with hot tap water. Add 1 teaspoon salt to the water.
4. Bring to a boil over high heat.
5. Add the pasta and stir with a wooden spoon to be sure noodles don’t stick to the bottom of the pot.
6. Turn the heat down, enough to maintain a boil and stir every so often to prevent noodles sticking.
7. Do not cover the pot. After 8-10 minutes, take a piece of pasta out of the water, allow it to cool and do a test for doneness.
8. Bite into the pasta. If it is too hard to bite or you see a white center, it needs to cook a little longer.
9. When it cooks all the way through it is ready and cooked el dente.
10. Turn off the heat, put the pasta into a strainer. Shake out excess water and put the pot back onto a cool part of the stove. While pasta is cooking, prepare the meat.
11. To prepare the meat, heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
12. Add onions and sauté for 5-6 minutes, until transparent.
13. Add garlic and sauté for 30 seconds.
14. Add the beef and cook until browned, breaking up to form a crumbly consistency. Drain off any fat.
15. Add the white wine and cook for 1 minute. Stir the meat mixture into the pasta and set aside.
16. In a small mixing bowl stir together the milk, mustard, soy sauce, salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper. Measure out 1/4 cup water and stir the flour in.
17. Stir the flour paste into the milk mixture and mix in well. Pour these ingredients into a saucepan and using medium heat, cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon until the sauce begins to thicken.
18. Shut off, add the grated cheese and stir in.Pour this cream sauce into the pasta and meat mixture and stir gently to combine.
19. Transfer all to the the prepared baking dish.Cover with aluminum foil and cook in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until heated through and bubbly.