Macaroni & Cheese W/ham And Peppers (kefalonia Style)

Total Time: 1 hr Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 45 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 8
• 1 lb egg noodles
• 2 ham slices (cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1 green bell pepper, diced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 1/2 bunch fresh parsley, chopped
• 5 basil leaves, chopped
• oregano
• olive oil
• 8 ounces cheddar cheese (you like it cheesier, add more than that)
• 8 ounces mozzarella cheese
• breadcrumbs
• grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese or pecorino romano cheese or kefalotiri
• pepper
• salt
• paprika
• flour
• 1/4-3/8 cup butter (4 tbs.)
• 2 cups milk

Recipe

• 1 in a large pot with salted water, boil the egg noodles half-way, roughly about 4 minutes. drain and add into a large oven pan. toss noodles in some olive oil so they won't stick.
• 2 season them with some grated pecorino-romano, whatever you like and toss. (even eat them like that if you want -- hee hee.).
• 3 in the meantime, heat a skillet with a few drops olive oil, and sauté the onion, parsley, basil,ham and peppers for a few seconds.
• 4 add them to the noodles and toss around.
• 5 cut half of your mozzarella into chunks and place them into the noodle mixture so that when it is cooked you can bite into a mozzarella pocket. grate the rest of the mozzarella and use for the topping later.
• 6 for the béchamel: in a small saucepan on low to medium heat, melt half a stick of butter (okay maybe even 3/4 of a stick).
• 7 add enough flour to make a smooth paste. i never measure the flour part because i usually just let it form into a ball, but you don't want that here. i'd say about 4 tablespoons of flour should be enough.
• 8 add two cups of milk and stir till it thickens. but wait- don't let it fully thicken because you will add some more grated cheese and half of your cheddar cheese into the béchamel. it should still be a bit milky when you remove it from the heat.
• 9 now add half of your cheddar and stir it inches.
• 10 add some more grated parmesan (or whatever you like) and stir that in too.
• 11 season the béchamel with some pepper and parika.
• 12 pour the béchamel onto the noodles and toss around until evenly coated. the sauce should be velvety.
• 13 top with grated mozzarella and cheddar, more parmesan or whatever other grated cheese you have on hand, and some dried greek oregano. sprinkle some breadcrumbs and a few drops of olive oil and voila -- my mess! (that's what i should have called this recipe).
• 14 cover with aluminum foil and cook like that for about 30 minutes in a 375 degree oven. then remove foil and cook for another 15 minutes until crust turns golden brown, or just put under the broiler for a few minutes.