I would bet there are a few dishes that transport you back to your childhood every time you eat them. This is definitely one of mine. My grandparents have been making this casserole for as long as I can remember. It's an ancient and traditional recipe they smuggled to the United States all the way from Hong Kong. I also might have made that up. This is a delicious and easy-to-make macaroni casserole that truly deserves to be passed down through the generations. I would love to hear about dishes of your childhood in the comments!
Ingredients
- 2 cups dry elbow macaroni
- 1 pound ground beef or pork
- 1 cup diced mushrooms
- 1 can cream of mushroom soup
- 1 cup grated or crumbled hard cheese
- Olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- Garlic powder
- Worcestershire sauce
Instructions
The choice of meat is up to you. I have made it with all pork, all beef, or a mix of the two. You can also add diced ham if you like. This recipe makes a pretty meaty casserole. If you prefer less meat and more pasta, adjust accordingly.
Boil salted water in a pot. Once the water is boiling, cook the macaroni for ten minutes. Then drain and rinse the pasta. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Season the meat with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and Worcestershire sauce. Heat olive oil in a frying pan and brown the meat and mushrooms. Work in batches to avoid crowding the pan.
Once the meat, mushrooms, and macaroni are finished, mix them all together in a casserole dish. Take about 2/3 of the soup out of the can and mix it in also. Smear the rest of the soup over the top of the pasta-meat mixture. Top with cheese. You can use whatever cheese you want. This time, I used gruyère. Cheddar or Monterey Jack are other good options.
Bake the casserole for 10 minutes, then broil for about 5 minutes, until cheese becomes crispy. Handle with care, as the dish will have become very hot. Scoop out onto plates, making sure everyone gets a proper cross-section. It keeps very well in the refrigerator. Just heat it up for a few minutes in the microwave later.
I am sad to say that since you and your sister went off to college the grannies rarely make this cheesy treat:( I remember certain busy days when they came to our house with "meals on wheels" and there was our favorite casserole. Your other grandma made a variation of the macaroni casserole using a can of tomato soup instead of the mushroom soup so we called it "hotdish"! She baked it at least a half hour so the macaroni got softer. That is a favorite dish I remember eating as a child and we put it between bread when we ate it as a leftover (wow...double carbs). I recommend this dish over the boxed mac and cheese...your kids will eat it up.
ReplyDeleteAnd it was in that brown glass dish with the basket on the outside.
ReplyDeleteNot to burst your bubble, I was never served this dish when I grew up. The grannies skipped one generation with this one. Actually, I believe it was an American adaptation that they started making only after settling in Minnesota. Why not? The grannies will be so proud of you. Minnesota is the land of the "hot dish". It is "hot dish" in Minnesota but others elsewhere call it a casserole. Minnesota also has the distintion of the highest per capita consumption of canned mushroom soup in the nation. There is a lot of "smearing" over noodles here.
ReplyDelete