Macaroni Roma

By Mariealicerayner @MarieRynr

As promised yesterday I am back today with a delicious recipe created to use up some of those tasty leftovers from the pot roast!  This is a simple casserole that really is tasty and so very simple to make.  If you can boil water and have been thrifty enough to save some meat and some of that fabulous gravy, you can make this!
 
I love pasta as you know  . . .  Todd, he's not so fond (as you also know) but he didn't seem to mind this overly much.  I found the recipe in a very old cookbook of mine called "Twice is Nice."   by Edna K Damerell.  It's a great book.  There's lots of fabulous ideas in it.   I bought this book back in the mid 1980's, so it's been with me for a very long time.

Cooked elbow macaroni is seasoned with some herbs and then layered in a casserole dish  along with chopped leftover roast beef, sliced onions, leftover gravy, cream and cheese.
 
You bake it for a little while and then you lay some sliced tomatoes on top and sprinkle on some herby buttered crumbs and bake it for a little while longer, with the end result being something which is very tasty, not to mention visually appealing and quite economical.  I hate waste, don't you?  This is a great way to prevent that and to make a little meat go a long way.

*Macaroni Roma*Serves 6Printable Recipe 
A delicious way to use up some of the leftovers from that Sunday Lunch! 
230g of uncooked macaroni (2 cups)1 tsp salt1/8 tsp black pepper1/8 tsp dried oregano1/8 tsp dried basil1/8 tsp garlic powder2 cups of diced leftover cooked beef1 medium red onion, peeled, sliced and separated into rings120g of finely diced cheddar cheese (1 cup)60g of grated Parmesan Cheese (1/3 cup)225ml of leftover gravy (1 cup)225ml single cream (1 cup)1 tomato sliced2 TBS fine dry bread crumbs1/8 tsp dried thyme1 TBS butter
 
Cook the macaroni according to the package directions.  Drain well.   Return to the pot and toss together with the pepper, salt, garlic powder,  oregano and basil.
Mix the gravy and the cream together.

Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4.  Butter a 1 liter casserole dish.  (1 quart)
Layer in the dish as follows:  1/2 macaroni, 1/2 the beef, 1/2 the onion, 1/2 of both cheeses, 1/2 the gravy/cream mixture.   Repeat the layers.  Loosen the mixture gently with a knife so that the sauce filters down through the layers.
 
Bake for half an hour in the preheated oven.  Remove from the oven and lay the sliced tomato on top.  Melt the butter and mix together with the bread crumbs and the thyme.   Sprinkle this mixture over top of the casserole and bake for 10 minutes longer, until golden brown.