Khalip Macaroni (Macaroni In A Mold, From Heaven)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Boil pasta to just under al dente in well-salted water. Drain.

Brown meat well in a skillet. Add spices and turn a few times. Add tomato paste. Fill the paste can with water a total of three times, adding each canful to the meat mixture. Simmer meat with its sauce for about 5 minutes, bubbling nicely, until slightly thickened. Cool.

Cube cheese in approximately 1/2-inch dice. You can use a bit more cheese, if desired.

Beat egg in a small dish.

Crush Ritz crackers into fine crumbs in a Ziploc bag. You can use your hands, a rolling pin, pan, can, etc.

Assembly:

Take butter, which has been softened to room temperature, and butter an angel food bundt pan very very liberally. Pour in about 1/2 cup of Ritz crumbs. Rotate pan until all butter has been crumb-coated. Return any excess crumbs to the bag.

Return cooled and drained pasta to the pot. Add cooled meat mixture, cheese, egg, and all but approximately 1/2 cups of remaining Ritz crumbs. Mix well with either your hands or a wooden spoon. Pour into the buttered and crumbed bundt pan, patting the mixture down slightly for density. Top with remaining crumbs and dot liberally with butter.

Bake for 45 minutes to an hour, so that casserole is hissing its cheesy, buttery sound and macaroni is looking crispy on top. Remove from oven. Let sit for at least 10 minutes, longer if you can wait. Run a knife around the middle cylinder and outer edge of the pan.

Place a large round serving platter on top of the pan, and flip. Place on the counter. Gently tap the bottom of the pan until you feel the macaroni release, and gingerly remove the pan. If casserole looks like it’s starting to cave, let it sit inverted in the pan for another 10 minutes until it cools enough to set. Slice, serve with buttered peas and a tossed green salad. Then beat the rest of the family to the fridge for leftovers at midnight.