I am so excited to share with you today’s recipe for the best Baked Penne with Béchamel sauce that you’ll ever make. This dish is a classic, finger licking meal that you you can always find at Egyptian holiday gatherings, family dinners or special occasions. It’s a meal that everyone (yes that includes your picky 2-year-old) loves! It’s full of protein from the ground meat, carbs from the pasta and fats from the béchamel sauce. There are so many versions of this dish but trust me when I tell you that this particularly recipe has been perfected and requested by many!
I encourage you to give it a try and I have no doubt that your family will love it. It’s also one of those dishes that you can bring to a party or give to a neighbor or a new mom to simply bake.
Baked Penne with Béchamel Sauce
Ingredients
Béchamel Sauce
- 2 sticks Butter
- 4 heaping tablespoons Flour
- 1 large Egg
- ¾ gallon Milk
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 2 teaspoons Black Pepper
Filling
- ½ Stick Butter
- 1 lb Ground Beef
- 1 large Onion Finely Chopped
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Black Pepper
Pasta
- 1 lb Penne Pasta
- 1 tablespoon Vegetable/corn oil
- 1 tablespoon salt
Instructions
Pasta:
- Bring 3 quarts of water to a strong boil. Add penne pasta, oil and salt
- Let cook until pasta is al dente (Remember we're going to bake this so it's important not to overcook your pasta at this stage)
- Once cooked, drain pasta water and leave the pasta uncovered in the pot
Filling:
- Using a food processor, finely chop onion and add it to pan
- Add butter to the pan and brown the onion on medium heat (browning the onion before adding the meat adds a lot of flavor)
- Once the onion is golden brown, add ground beef. Mix constantly to prevent the onions from burning.
- Once the meat is cooked, add salt and pepper and turn off the heat
Béchamel Sauce:
- In a large pot, put the butter and turn on medium heat
- In a separate bowl, pour 2 cups of milk and 1 egg and mix well
- Once the butter is mostly melted, add the flour and mix for 30 seconds using a whisk
- Add the rest of the milk along with the egg mixture to the pot while whisking all together constantly (make sure to add the milk cold to the pot first and then the egg mixture to prevent from separating)
- Continue whisking until mixture thickens
- Add salt and pepper and turn off the heat
Assembly:
- This is the fun part!
- Pour half of the Béchamel sauce on the penne pasta and mix
- In a half-size aluminum foil tray, pour half of the pasta mixture
- Add a layer of the ground beef mixture, then pour the remainder of the pasta mixture to the top
- Finally, pour remainder of Béchamel sauce on the top
- Baked uncovered tray at 450F for 45 mins to an hour or until the top browns
- Serve hot and enjoy!
I can’t wait for you to make this and enjoy it with your loved ones. Check out my instagram page where I share a video of how to assemble this recipe. I would love to hear your feedback!
Oh! That looks so good! My boys are not fan of tomato sauce on their pasta, I”m always looking for alternatives! This looks like something they’d love.
This looks so delish. I should definitely make it for a Sunday dinner. Thank you fir the idea 🙂
Yum yum yum! I love pasta and this is the cherry (or sauce) on top!
What a delicious recipe!!! Thank you for sharing this!
Oh my! That look delicious. We have pasta once a week and will definitely that this out. Thanks for sharing.