In Finland, we have this comfort food called makaroonilaatikko. It’s just macaroni and minced beef baked with egg and milk mixture in the oven. Old fashioned makaroonilaatikko was made without meat and served as a side dish, for example, meatball sauce or different meat sauces. My grandmother made that version whenever we had family gatherings as a side dish. The other version is with minced beef. This is the favorite of many kids and adults alike. It’s nothing like American mac and cheese, but macaroni casserole is good and easy to make.

There are so many recipes and ways of making this dish, and every Finnish family has its own style, so there’s no right or wrong way. Bread crumbs are added to the original recipe on top of the bake before baking. This gives casserole a nice golden color and makes the surface crispy. Some people like adding grated cheese on top of the casserole. The original Finnish macaroni bake does not have any cheese in it. I added the cheese to the recipe, but when you make my makaroonilaatikko the first time, leave it out so you get the idea of how the authentic tastes. Whatever way you decide to make this, try to find elbow macaroni. That’s what we use in Finland for macaroni cassarole. I used one from Barilla. If you don’t find it, use whatever is available.

This is my families Makaroonilaatikko recipe:

Ingredients

• 500 g of elbow macaroni
• 500 g of minced beef
• 1 onion
• 2 tablespoons of butter
• salt
• a dash of allspice, black or white pepper, according to taste
• 4 eggs
• 2 liters of milk
• (150 g of grated cheese)
• 4 tbsp ketchup
• ½ water

Serve with ketchup, pickled beetroot, pickles, or lingonberry jam.

Instructions

1. Cook the macaroni in a mixture of ½ l water and 1 l milk until almost done. Do not drain the macaroni; leave it in the milk so the macaroni can absorb the rest of the milk.
2. Brown the minced beef and chopped onion in butter. Season the mixture with salt and pepper and ground allspice.
3. Whisk the eggs into the milk. Combine the macaroni, minced meat mixture, (and ¾ of the grated cheese in a baking dish. Traditional macaroni casserole does not use any cheese.)
4. Pour the egg-milk mixture over the top. (Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.)
5. Bake in the lower part of the oven at 175 degrees Celsius for 50-60 minutes.
6. After baking, let it stand for about ten minutes before serving so makaroonilaatikko can set a bit.

Tips

For variation, use lamb, reindeer, or venison minced meat.
Season the minced meat with red or green pesto, also try sweet chili sauce for seasoning.
Add Emmental cheese or blue cheese crumbs for extra flavor.
Remember dried mushrooms in autumn! You can finely chop dried mushroom flakes into the egg-milk mixture.
Pesto also works well for seasoning the macaroni casserole.
Try different types of pasta in the macaroni casserole. Short penne pasta or shell pasta work great.
Replace some of the egg-milk mixture with tomato sauce to get a red macaroni casserole.