Upgrade: White Macaroni Hotdish

Hotdish is one of the iconic dishes of the Upper Midwest, particularly associated with Minnesota. Church cookbooks are full of them, and many families have their own house recipes. My family has two, both macaroni-based styles, which we refer to as "red" and "white." This also gives you a convenient wine pairing. The red kind uses tomato soup, and comes from my maternal grandmother. The white kind, which was one of my earliest posts, comes from my paternal grandparents. Although we lost all three of them in the last few years, their legacy lives on through traditions like these. Today, I'm revisiting the white hotdish to how I make it now, a better version than could muster at the tender age of 23. To this day, it is still one of my top comfort foods, and I'll be making it for years to come.

There is a lot of variation in what can go in a hotdish. In Molly on the Range, Molly Yeh gives a four-part breakdown of creamed soup, vegetables, meat, and starch. Yet, with the exception of starch (I think), all of these are negotiable. Her own tater tot hotdish eschews the soup for a homemade mix of milk and stock, while my family's red hotdish uses tomato soup. I've even winged it with just canned tomatoes. My original recipe for this hotdish had no vegetables (just mushrooms), though I now include onions. You could easily replace the meat with more mushrooms to make a vegetarian version. Starches vary greatly, and can include pasta, rice, wild rice, potatoes, or even crushed crackers. The starch component is what holds the dish together and turns a soupy mess into a hotdish. Thinking about this basic formula, shepherd's pie might be the proto-hotdish. The Jewish noodle kugel, Italian lasagna, and Greek pastitsio are certainly cousins, at the very least.

The biggest difference between this version and my original is the scale. This recipe is designed to use a full one-pound box of macaroni, which I wouldn't have done back when I lived alone. With two of us, I like making it bigger so we can have leftovers for a few days of quick lunches. Although I've scaled up the overall size, I've left the amount of meat at one pound of mixed beef and pork, which corrects the overly meaty balance. Adding onions and more mushrooms gives the whole thing a little more variation. For the topping, I use a mixture of grated Swiss and Parmesan and some breadcrumbs for a little crunch. The Swiss is just a basic supermarket block, as the subtlety of gruyère is kind of lost on this dish. That said, I still prefer real Italian Parmigiano-Reggiano for this, which will give you a little nuttiness. Cooking at a high temperature for 45 minutes leads to a soft interior and crisp crust.

Let's talk about the soup. I had actually meant to get this post out several weeks ago, but messed up the recipe by not using enough soup. This hotdish should be creamy and gooey, and the macaroni should be well-coated before baking. I found a giant 26 oz. can, which is about what you need to adequately coat the full pound of pasta here. A regular-sized can then forms the base for the topping, making for a total of 36.5 oz. of soup. I'm not sure the full can was needed at the end, but it doesn't hurt and I wasn't going to save a half can of soup. If you only have three regular cans instead, the total amount will be 31.5 oz. This leaves about a half can for the topping, which should work fine.

Ingredients

• 1 lb. dry elbow macaroni
• 8 oz. ground beef
• 8 oz. ground pork
• 8 oz. mushrooms, sliced (cremini preferred, but any will work)
• 8 oz. onion, diced (about 1 onion)
• 1 26 oz. can and 1 10.5 oz. can cream of mushroom soup (extra-creamy version)
• Can substitute 3 10.5 oz. cans for a less-creamy hotdish
• 4 oz. Swiss cheese, grated
• 2 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1/4 cup breadcrumbs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Vegetable or olive oil

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Get some salted water boiling for the pasta. Cook pasta to package directions. Dropping the pasta in right after cooking the meat will time out about right. Drain and transfer to a large casserole dish when done.

In a skillet, heat a little oil on high heat. Add the beef and pork and season with salt and pepper. Cook until all the meat is browned, breaking up the meat as is it cooks. Transfer the meat to the casserole dish.

Add more oil as needed and turn the heat down to medium-high. Add the mushrooms and onion and sauté until softened and lightly browned. Lightly season with salt and pepper as they cook. Transfer to the casserole dish.

For the extra-creamy version, add the entire 26 oz. can of soup. For the less-creamy version, add 2 1/2 cans of soup. Mix everything thoroughly so that everything is coated with the soup. Smooth the top and spread the remaining soup on top.

Sprinkle Swiss and Parmesan cheeses evenly over the top, then do the same with the breadcrumbs. 

Transfer the dish to the oven and cook about 45 minutes. Let cool a few minutes before serving.