I served this with green beens and cornbread muffins, a salad or different vegetable would also be good. I need to say that I made half of the recipe and fed 4 people with some left over. Taking into account that we don’t eat as much as we did when we were younger, this does make a fair amount of casserole. The recipe says it is for 5 people but they would need to be 5 hungry people. Do use the Italian cheeses this calls for as that is what gives it a little different flavor than your standard cheddar or american cheese type dishes.
Italian Macaroni
1 pound ground beef
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes undrained
2 cups water
1 envelope onion soup mix
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
⅛ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional (I did use them)
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese
In Dutch oven or deep skillet, cook beef over medium heat until no longer pink; Drain.
Add the undrained tomatoes, water, dried soup mix, Italian seasoning and pepper flakes. (I added a little salt and black pepper as it was not as spicy as we like.)
Bring to a boil, stir in the macaroni. Reduce heat and simmer for 9 to 10 minutes or until macaroni is tender.
Remove from heat, stir in Parmesan cheese. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese. Cover and let stand till cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.
YUM. I also make a lot of casserole dishes. They are so easy and quick to make and I only use my Large chicken fryer pan which is all that is needed for making something like this.
ReplyDeleteI do make something very much like this but I do use 1/2 Italian Sausage or pork sausage and 1/2 ground beef, plus I use the Italian Diced tomatoes. I do leave out the red pepper flakes but I do add diced bell peppers and onion and are thrown in while browning the meat.
Normally I serve with small tossed salad, fresh green beans sauted in bacon grease, minced garlic and fried bacon bits and homemade garlic bread sticks on the side.
Well that sounds good and the salad sounds good also.
DeleteMade this about 2 nights ago. What I did different is put the onion soup mix along with an egg and about 1/4 c. breadcrumbs into the ground beef and then browned it. I also did not add the mozzarella cheese. It was delicious along with a veggie and some bread. I am using the leftovers tonight and adding the mozzarella on top. We will have a green salad and Italian bread. We are only 2 people and there might be enough left over to use as a lunch. Leftovers gives me more time for other things like canning apple pie filling.
ReplyDeleteElaine, that sounds like a good idea, it does make a large amount but leftovers come in handy. We tend to eat the leftovers on the weekends so I don't need to cook as much than.
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