[ Food ]

Sicilian Casserole

I found this recipe online and thought it sounded good. It was originally posted by Linda Larsen.

As always, I made the recipe exactly how it was written and then I make my suggestions. This was a rich, hearty meal that warms your soul. It is very easy to make and it’s good on your budget too!

Sicilian Casserole Recipe





*Photo taken from original recipe website until I get a photo of my own. 

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 green bell pepper, chopped (For those of you who don’t like or can’t have green peppers, try any other kind of pepper, red, yellow, orange…the flavor is so good!)
  • 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
  • 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1 tsp. dried Italian seasoning (I put more like 1 tablespoon in, but I also don’t measure…)
  • 2 cups elbow macaroni
  • 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, cubed
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/3 cup sour cream
  • 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
  • 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella – my suggestion

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, brown ground beef, onion, and garlic in heavy saucepan, stirring to break up ground beef. Add green bell pepper when beef is almost cooked; continue to simmer until beef is done. Drain well. Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, water, and dried Italian seasoning and stir well to blend. Let simmer for 10 minutes to blend flavors. Meanwhile, cook elbow macaroni as directed on package. While macaroni is cooking, combine cream cheese and milk in medium bowl. Cook in microwave on medium power for 2-3 minutes, stirring once halfway through cooking. Remove from microwave and stir with wire whisk until sauce thickens and blends to form a smooth sauce  (as good as this looks, don’t try it…it’s kind of gross. LOL). Drain noodles and add to cream cheese sauce along with sour cream and 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese; stir to combine.

In 2 quart casserole dish, place all of the cream cheese mixture. Top with all of the ground beef mixture and sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese (This is where I would add about a half cup of mozzarella cheese). Bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes until casserole is bubbly.

 

To freeze, add 1 Tbsp. cornstarch to the cream cheese sauce. Prepare casserole as directed, except instead of baking, chill in refrigerator. Wrap well and freeze up to 3 months. To thaw and reheat, thaw casserole overnight in refrigerator. Bake, covered, for 25-35 minutes, then uncover and bake 5-10 minutes longer until bubbly.