I just realized I haven’t made a casserole in years. It’s time I got some new ones into my repertoire. What I don’t like is casseroles that require serious precooking of ingredients and then just finishing it off in the oven - I don’t mind *some *precooking, but the whole point of casseroles, in my mind, is that they’re fast and easy. If I have to cook the noodles, meat and potatoes first, I’m probably not going to go to the trouble. Unless it’s so good, it’s worth it.
Does anyone have some good recipes? Something beyond tuna casserole or cream of mushroom soup and 3 cups of cheese?
The ingredients are simple: Cooked chicken breast, shredded (yes, there’s some precooking involved), corn tortillas, grated monterey jack cheese, and a big can of Las Palmas green enchilada sauce.
Oil up a big casserole dish and layer the above ingredients into it. If you like, you may first toast the corn tortillas a little right on the oven burners until they get little blackened spots on them. Bake the casserole at 375 until it’s heated well through and the cheese is bubbly and a little browned. Make a lot - the leftovers are superb when reheated.
Actually, this is the least involved recipe for chicken enchilada casserole I’ve seen. I’m going to make this. I have just enough leftover roasted chicken to do this. (I’m not averse to cooking the meat or using leftovers, just not precooking every single thing individually before reheating in the oven for 5 minutes.) Thanks!
It’s also good in the crockpot- don’t forget the onions!
I guess I’ll add one- layer sliced potatoes and sliced onions in a dish- cover with 4 browned pork chops, cover that with a can of the dreaded cream of mushroom soup, half a can of water, bake at 350 for an hour. Yummy and easy.
Baked rigatoni is a casserole, no? Or baked ziti- whatever you want to make. Googling tells me that most people don’t put ricotta in this. . .odd. Whatever, this is how my Italian family makes it. And I of course don’t have any real measurements because no one has ever given them to me. . . so. . . this is probably useless. But here goes.
You’ll need:
Sghetti sauce (homemade, jarred, whatever your thing is)
Box of rigatoni or ziti
1 egg
A tub of ricotta (the smaller of the two tub sizes they usually have. . . though you can use the bigger tub if you want to go crazy with the cheesey)
Shredded Mozzarella (I get the preshredded bag. . . which is what? 2 cups?)
Topping Cheese of Your Choice (Romano, parm, whatever)
Whatever Spices You Like (I’m partial to: oregano, parsley, basil, garlic powder)
Way more salt and pepper than you think you’ll need
Boil and drain your pasta, set aside.
Mix the ricotta with an egg, most of the mozzarella (keep out a hand full or two for on top later), half a cup of the topping cheese. Then spice it to your liking. It always needs way more salt and pepper than I originally think it does, so just keep adding if you feel it needs it. When all mixed nicely, add in a little of the sauce, maybe like a cup. Not so much that the cheese gets really runny, but enough that everything is nice and pink. Mix in the pasta.
In a casserole dish, put a bunch of sauce on the bottom (enough to cover evenly). Plop in cheesey noodle mixture. Over the top, sprinkle remaining mozz and topper cheese. Bake covered for like 30 mins, then 10 more uncovered at about 350. Remove. Enjoy.
Personally, I like the top all super golden and such, so I sometimes stick the broiler on in my oven for the last 2 mins. Totally your call.
lazy pierogi
only thing you precook is lasagne noodles, mainly because i havent tried to figure out how to use the no cook lasagne noodles.
Drop a few tsp of butter into a casserole dish, add a half inch layer of shredded onions. Blorp on leftover mashed potatoes, then a layer of lasagne noodles. Layer of leftover steamed cabbage, layer of mashed potatoes, layer of lasagne noodles, OK, I lied, top with a layer of onions sauteed in butter until a bit soft … cover and bake for about 1 hour at 375 degrees so everything sort of blends together flavorwise.
Typing it out made me crave a CEC. I know it’s a common casserole dish, but I never tasted one until a few years ago. A woman here at work makes the best CEC I ever had.
Although there are only two of us to feed, I make a huge one. I slice off a big square for each of us to take in to lunch the next day, and then we have dinner from it again in a couple of days. Dee-lish.