I still recall coming back from playing football (soccer) or cricket on a Sunday morning and the house would be filled with the wonderful aroma of Sunday lunch being prepared. Though I was never a fan of it, macaroni pie is an integral part of a Trinbagonian Sunday lunch. For me the rice, stew chicken (or baked), callaloo (or stewed red beans), plantain, sweet potato and salad was all I ever had room for. I saw macaroni pie as a filler that took up prime real estate in my tummy.
Since we’re heading down to visit my parents before they head down to Trinidad for the winter months, I thought I make a batch to share the recipe with you and take some for my dad. I still don’t fancy it and he’s usually stuck with anything we have a hard time finishing.
* You’ll notice in the pics below that I used macaroni the length of spaghetti, but I’m almost positive you won’t be able to find this in grocery stores in North America, so feel free to use the elbow type we usually get here.
* I used cheddar (medium), but feel free to use a cheese “mixture” if you’re buying the pre-shredded variety you can now purchase at the grocers.
You’ll need…
400 grams (14 oz) macaroni
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 can evaporated milk (370ml – 12.5 oz)
1/4 habanero or scotch bonnet diced fine (optional)
1/2 medium onion diced very small.
fresh cracked black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon butter
paprika (dust onto pie before baking)
1/3 teaspoon dry mustard
In a large pan put enough water to cover the macaroni, to boil. When the water starts boiling, salt and add the macaroni. Try not to overcook the macaroni, so we’ll only boil it for about 5-8 minutes or so. While this boils, we’ll prepare the other ingredients.
Start by dicing the onion and hot pepper as fine as you can. Then in a large bowl, add the diced pepper and onion, dry mustard, dash of black pepper, salt, eggs, butter and evaporated milk. Whisk together so everything is mixed thoroughly. Grate the cheese and add to the mixture, but keep back about 1/2 a cup to spread on top of the pie before baking.
The macaroni should be cooked by now, so go ahead… drain and allow to cool a bit, then add to the mixture we just made. Preheat your oven to 350 F.
Grease a baking dish (fairly deep) as you would if you were making a cake or bread so the pie does not stick to the sides. Then add the macaroni mixture we just made. Using a spoon push down and level off. The final step before baking is to sprinkle the remaining cheese and dust with the paprika. When the oven comes to temperature place on the middle rack and allow to cook for about 30-40 minutes. You’re looking for a firm pie with a golden top. Allow to cool a bit before slicing.
Tips.
1. If you don’t like biting into onions, you also have the option of grating the onion so it’s more fine than you could possibly dice. The other option is to use onion powder. Personally I love the flavour and texture of the diced onions. While we’re still on onion topic, if you can get sweet onions like a Vidalia, try using those as the dish won’t be overpowered with onions. (other types of sweet onions include the Sweet Imperial, the Spring Sweet, and the Walla Walla)
2. To reduce the heat from the diced habanero peppers, avoid using the seeds or close to the stem. The bottom part is usually less potent. The heat from the pepper does give the dish a nice finish so if you can’t stand the heat from the habaneros or scotch bonnet, try using something a bit milder.
3. If you’d like to add some more flavour to this you can always add a crushed chicken bouillon cube to the liquid mixture we made.
Do leave me your thoughts on this recipe in the comments box below and remember to share you own recipe or unique way of making this classic Sunday side dish.
If only I had some stew chicken or beef.
BTW, all my talk about not really liking macaroni pie turned out to be crap. The craving I got while the aroma permeated the house while cooking.. here’s a pic of my plate ( I didn’t even wait long enough for it to cool)
Ohh, macaroni pie I love. And with stew meats/beans. But just so with enough cheese is always good. While I know the flavour of onions and cheese together is excellent, I am not always a fan of bits of onion. Pimento peppers and chives – that is a good option too!
Chennette, thanks for the tip on using pimento and chives. I also heard from a friend that she puts in a dash of nutmeg as well.
UPDATE: After seeing the finished product my dad mentioned that I didn’t use enough milk in the recipe. He recommend that in the future I use 1 and a half cans of the evaporated milk for the amount of macaroni I used.
Chris De La Rosa´s last blog ..More about the Chocloate Habanero or Chocolate Congo Pepper.
This looks deliciously comforting, thank you. I cannot get enough pasta as of late, I’m an addict!
Savory Tv´s last blog ..Chef Michael Smith’s Smoked Salmon Pasta With a Lemon Dill Cheese Sauce
hey chris macaroni pie is always a hit in my house with my kids,try addin some crackers(crix)to the mix you’ll be surprise at the difference it make.yummy……….
Re: Leesia, Thanks for the “crix” tip! I have some friends who also use seasoned bread crumbs in theirs.
Happy Cooking
Chris De La Rosa´s last blog ..Profile of the Fiery Scotch Bonnet Pepper.
Hey in the Bahamas it’s just Macaroni and we add some minced red/green pepper to it all the same ingredients are same and it’s a great Sunday side dish with yummy fried chicken or baked ham.
Hi,
Thank you for your site and recipes. Your mango talkari
is the greatest, but what I did i boiled the mango for about 5 min. then use your method of cooking and was most delicious.
Thanks again. I need a lovely light sponge cake and good Trinidad
Christmas cake recipes.
Anxiously waiting.
Thank you, God Bless,
Renu
So, I tried the Macaroni pie and MMMMMMMMmmmmmm it was so good. I’m younger so I’m still learning the basics but with your easy how to do it step by steps and pictures it really helps.
Thanks for the wonderful food!!!
Thanks for all your wonderful comments.
happy cooking
chris
Chris De La Rosa´s last blog ..El Yucateco Salsa Picante De Chile Habanero Green Hot Sauce Review.
hey cris your dishes are great i would like some trindadian christmas dishes for a change christmas hoping on u
Hello Chris – Do you have a Callaloo recipe that you can add to the site?
Hey – whats up. Thanks a bunch for the blog. I’ve been digging around looking some info up for shool, but i think i’m getting lost!. Google lead me here – good for you i suppose! Keep up the great information. I will be coming back over here in a few days to see if there is updated posts.
A nice recpe idea you have here. I am always looking for more ideas to keep the kids entertained with and this one might just do the trick so thank you for sharing it.
Papachunks.. see http://caribbeanpot.com/callaloo-the-true-spirt-of-the-islands/ for the callaloo recipe.
Thanks for everyone’s comments.
Chris…
Chris De La Rosa´s last blog ..Encona Caribbean Creole Hot Pepper Sauce Review.
Hi Chris,
Macaroni Pie is my sons favorite. The first time I took Him to Trinidad he would not eat any of the food, then my sister cooked macaroni pie for him, I think that he fell in love with her after that, he said only she knew how to cook, He is 14 now and has learned to make Macaroni Pie all by himself.
At 14 you should be very proud. Our girls are like me and don’t like it as much. However, when my mom makes here macaroni and cheese from scratch (not packaged stuff) they go crazy. I’ll try to share that recipe soon, so he/you can give it a try.
Thanks for leaving your comment.
Happy Cooking
Chris..
p.s. maybe you can convince him to share his recipe with us?