Macaroni and Beef Casserole

The rich flavor of this gorgeous dish hinges on your generous and attentive seasoning. Once the meat is cooked, its seasoning go-time. The cheese sauce requires the same attentiveness but varies depending on the sharpness of your cheddar, mine was mild and needed much more salt. And for the love of all things, forget the "2 Tbsp of grated Parmesan" and grate so that sucker is covered! After all, "this crisp nutty blanket of parmesan isn't necessary" said no one ever.

I have been a fan of Pierre Franey since I was a newlywed and he wrote the "60 Minute Gourmet" column in the NYT. My husband and I worked on Wall St. and often got home after 8pm; his recipes were a godsend. Always easy and always delicious. This was a favorite and I make it to this day. RIP Pierre; you will always be missed.

It would be just fine. Before putting in the fridge, cover it with a piece of parchment-lined foil (parchment side down). When ready to eat, bake covered at 350 until heated through. Uncover, turn on the broiler, and place under the broiler until the top is bubbling and lightly-brown.

This was delicious! Wonderful layers of flavor and a nice sneaky heat. I added some sauteed mushrooms I had on hand, and used chopped fresh tomatoes rather than canned, which worked out fine. It barely fit in the pan and was more like 6 servings rather than 4. Before baking I poked all around the mixture with a spatula so the bechamel would percolate down and it would not spill over while cooking. Had to watch the browning carefully. Big hit with the family!

The ultimate comfort food. I sauté the vegetables together, remove them from the pan, then sauté the beef to ensure proper caramelization.

If the bechamel is thick enough, when you pour it over the beef/elbow pasta mixture as directed, it will form a separate but lush layer under the browned cheese.

I bake it for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. It requires less attention than the broiler, makes sure everything is warmed through and comes to the same brown, mottled result.

In the original article (see link to "60 Minute Gourmet" underneath the recipe description at the top of the page), Franey suggests sharp cheddar. He also gives a recipe for a green bean and red pepper salad, with a dressing that should combine nicely with the casserole.

A great old standard. I used ground chicken, added Chipotle Chile Pepper, a tablespoon of Dijon mustard and two large handfuls of spinach to the cheese sauce, doubled the amount of celery and added a chopped carrot to the veg.

Be sure to use lean ground beef. I used 80% ground chuck and had to drain off a large amount of liquid and grease after browning the meat.
I used 1 tsp kosher salt in the beef mixture, and 1/2 tsp in the cream sauce. 1/4 tsp cayenne was just about right.

Great recipe! I made one change - instead of 1/2 cup of canned tomatoes, I used an entire can (14.5 oz. of Muir Glen fire roasted petite diced tom). I cooked the skillet mixture a wee bit longer and the final dish was just fine (didn't want to put any leftover tomatoes in the frig!) Delicious and reheats well the next day.

Yesss, this was very tasty, and quite satisfying on a rainy evening.

Two quick pieces of advice:

1. Don't under-season the meat (get that salt in there).

2. If you use cubed instead of shredded cheese, bear in mind that cubes in a measuring cup will have a lot more air in it than shredded, so don't shortchange yourself, add a few more than 2 cups of cubes. Oh, and cubes will take longer to melt, so maybe keep the fire on just a tad until they're fully melted into the sauce.

Prepared this delicious winter-evening casserole tonight; had no cayenne so used smoked paprika which lent a rustic note. Raves all around.

Using high quality penne (not widely available back in the 60 Min. Gourmet heyday) improves this casserole.

My 60 Minute Gourmet is in pieces in a box, so it's nice to be reminded of this recipe that I used to cook for my kids when I got home from work. Now I can cook it again for my grandsons, who will love it as much as their mom did. Thank you.

Suggest you compare the weight of cubed and shredded cups of cheese. Although air spaces are larger with cubes there are a lot more of the little ones among the shreds. I think you will be surprised by similarity of weight.
If you do the math (geometry), you will prove that particle size and void fraction are not at all related (unless your container is nearly the size of the particles.) Particle shape matters slightly, but not nearly as much as most people think.

I used Cabot Vermont sharp cheddar and whole grain/ancient grain penne rigate. Also, didn't have a green pepper, so used pickled cherry peppers from my pantry. I thought it was quite good. Definitely drain the beef and throw in the whole can of tomoates (I used petite diced fire roasted). I would say this serves 6 with a side salad, but the leftovers are really good!