Firinda Makarna – Turkish Mac n Cheese
Firinda Makarna - Turkish Mac & Cheese is a complete meal with meat and cheesy goodness!
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Cook Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 chopped onion
- 3 finely chopped garlic cloves
- 1 lb. ground lamb
- 1 lb. ground turkey
- 1/4 cup mint leaves finely chopped
- 1/2 cup parsley leaves finely chopped
- salt to taste
- 1 lb. noodles see note below
- Cheese Sauce Ingredients:
- 4 cups milk
- 2 eggs
- 16 oz. halloumi grated
- 2 cups grated cheese any good melting cheese see note below
- 6 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons mustard powder
Preheat oven to 375 F.
Cook pasta according to package instructions. Drain.
In a large skillet, heat oil. Add onion and garlic. Saute until softened.
Add ground meat and cook until browned. Add mint, parsley and salt. Stir to combine. Add to cooked pasta and stir to combine.
Whisk together the milk and eggs. Heat the milk while whisking to prevent eggs from scrambling. Add halloumi and 1 cup of the grated cheese. Cook until cheese melts. Add mustard and flour one tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Simmer on low heat until sauce is very thick. Add this to meat and pasta and mix thoroughly.
Bake in oven for 1 hour until golden brown on top.
I used Bulgarian Kashkaval (a sheep's milk cheese) cheese but Greek Kasseri is also a good substitute, or even just cheddar if international cheeses are not available.
The noodles used are thin egg noodles. I was able to find a comparable Bulgarian brand at an Eastern European market, however regular supermarket egg noodles would work just as good.