Is that Lasagna in my Soup?

Yesterday, the weather shifted as it often does this time of year.  Gone were high temperatures in the 60's replaced by highs in the low 50's and chilly nights in the 30's.  With chillier temps coming for the weekend, another soup craving hit.  I wanted something simple, satisfying, and easy.  That got me thinking about a soup my neighbor made for a dinner party last winter.  It was so satisfying, yet light and and delicious I couldn't stop thinking about making it for my sweetie and me.  I love that it's a soup you can make from common pantry ingredients, can be scaled up to feed a crowd, and it tastes like lasagna.  As a recipe she has made for years, it's a classic on which she relies often.  Now that I've made it once, I know it will become a classic in my home as well.  Since my sweetie has specific likes and dislikes, I do tend to modify recipes some.  So, with apologies to my neighbor for taking a few liberties with her original recipe, here is my take on Jennifer's Lasagna Soup.  Happy eating!

Lasagna Soup

1 lb lean ground beef
I small onion, chopped
1 can mushrooms, drained
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 carton (32 oz) beef broth
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 lb (1/2 box) rotini pasta

Heat a soup pot or Dutch oven over medium heat.  Add ground beef and brown 5 minutes.  Add onions and cook until they are translucent and beef is cooked through, about 7 more minutes.  Add in mushrooms, tomatoes, broth, and seasonings.  Turn up heat to medium high and heat soup to boiling.  Add pasta and continue to boil soup until pasta is done, about 7 minutes (check pasta box for recommended cooking time).  Taste test after 5 minutes and in one minute intervals after.  When pasta is al dente, turn off heat.  Serve sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and crusty bread.

There's a Taco in My Soup!

If your family was like mine, taco night was practically a weekly occurrence.  Living down in San Antonio, we embraced the cultural norm of "Tex-Mex" cuisine and took for granted the abundance of authentic products available to liven up our meals.  Fresh tortillas and tortilla chips, authentic refritos, and selection of salsas were just a few of the typical ingredients gracing our table.

When I was newly married, like most young wives, I wanted to learn how to make meals my husband loved and grew up with.  Sissy, my mother-in-law, shared a favorite soup recipe combining the best flavors of the Mexican or Tex-Mex cuisine we enjoy down here.  The ingredients are simple and readily available.  Plus, it's a great way to use up those crushed up tortilla chips at the bottom of the bag or slightly stale ones.  What I love best is that it's so easy to modify the recipe and scale it up for a crowd.  I cut the sodium by omitting the ranch dressing mix, I've made it vegetarian with black beans and kidney beans, and included extras such as chopped onions and cilantro.  Use a slow cooker, serve at a party instead of chili - it's amazingly versatile.  A true Texas-style classic (over 25 years in the supper rotation for my husband) and I bet it becomes a go-to meal in your house.  Happy eating!

Taco Soup

1 lb. ground beef, turkey, or chicken

1 package taco seasoning

1 package dry Ranch dressing mix (optional - I omit)

1 can (about 15 oz) diced tomatoes with green chiles (I use Ro-Tel)*

1 can chili beans

1 cup frozen corn or 1 can whole kernel corn, drained

In a Dutch oven over medium heat, brown the meat.  When meat is browned, add the taco seasoning, dressing mix (if using), tomatoes with chiles, chili beans, two cans of water (use chili bean can) and the corn.  Bring soup to a boil and cook for 10 minutes.  Ladle over crushed tortilla chips and serve with sour cream and shredded cheese.

*If you cannot find Ro-tel, substitute one can (15 oz) diced tomatoes and 1 can (4 oz) green chiles.  For milder flavor, omit green chiles.

To make vegetarian, omit meat and add in 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed and/or 1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed.  (Also check that the chili beans you use are vegetarian - most are)

Mostachello Casserole - Italian-American Comfort Food

For about the past month, I've been screening recipes for a family cookbook in honor of my dad's family.  In my grandma's (gramma as we called her) recipe book, one casserole always intrigued me - "Mostachello Casserole."  I never heard of "mostachello," but the ingredients looked like good Italian-style comfort food to me!

The recipe looks well-loved by gramma!

Gramma's casserole seemed pretty simple - ground beef, sausage, pasta, cheese, and a tomato sauce, but the amounts equaled mass quantites to feed hungry masses.  The beef and sausage would be about 3 lbs - way too much.  I scaled down the recipe and made it more appropriate to a family of four than the two hungry boys my gramma raised.  I also lightened up the casserole with ingredients such as leaner ground beef (93/7), chicken sausage, and part-skim mozzarella.

First part of the recipe was to make the sauce.  Directions called for browning the beef and sausage, then draining the fat.  I chose lean ground beef (93% lean) and 3 links of spicy Italian sausage (my grocery store sells individual sausage links) because we like spicy food.  If you're making the recipe for children, go with mild sausage.  I sliced open the sausages and squeezed out the sausage to brown.  Though the recipe recommended draining the fat from the meat, using such lean meats, I didn't have anything to drain.  Here's the biggest surprise - using V-8 juice and tomato sauce from a can!  Cutting down the recipe, I added 2 cups of juice and 1 - 15 oz can of regular canned tomato sauce.  You could do a full recipe (2 lbs of ground beef, 1 package of sausage, 4 cups V-8, and 28-oz can tomato sauce plus Italian spices), make sauce ahead, and freeze the extra for using later.  When I began the sauce, I was seriously skeptical - it was pretty thin after adding the vegetable juice and tomato sauce.  But, they key is to simmer the sauce at least an hour (up to 1 1/2 hours).  After that, the sauce was thicker, richer, and flavors from the sausage permeated the sauce. 
While the sauce cooked, I cooked up the pasta.  The recipe called for mostaccioli, which I wasn't familiar with.  It's a penne-shaped pasta, but has a smooth, rather than ridged texture.  Some grocery stores may carry it, but you can substitute regular penne if you don't find it.   I drained the pasta and graciously dumped into a buttered casserole dish.  The recipe was very specific about layering the ingredients with no mixing.

In went the hot pasta sauce, now thickend up and cooked down after an hour.  No additional salt or pepper - the juice, tomato sauce, and sausage had plenty!   The tomato sauce is topped with shredded mozzarella (I used 1 1/2 cups of reduced fat shredded) and about 2 Tbsp of Parmesan sprinkled over the top.  The casserole then baked for 25 minutes at 350 degrees until golden and browned on top.  I probably will decrease baking time to 20 minutes next time for  a little less browning of the cheese.

Golden brown goodness!

The verdict?  Great depth of flavor, crowd-pleasing Italian style and different textures hit the mark.  While this isn't a "fast" recipe, if the sauce and pasta were made ahead, it would come together in about 30 minutes.  Either way, it's a wonderful Saturday or Sunday supper.  Served with some crusty French bread and a salad, it's a hearty, complete meal.

Mostachello Casserole (serves 4)
1 lb lean ground beef
3 links of Italian sausage (mild or hot), casings removed
1 - 15 oz can tomato sauce
2 cups V-8 or other vegetable juice
1/2 green pepper, chopped (optional - I omitted)
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 Tbsp. parmesan cheese
1/2 lb of mostaccioli or penne pasta (1/2 box)

Brown ground beef and sausage in a skillet over medium heat.  Drain excess fat.  Add tomato sauce, vegetable juice, green pepper (if using), Italian seasoning, and garlic powder.  Bring to a simmer and cook for 1 - 1/2 hours. While sauce is cooking, (the last 1/2 hour), cook pasta according to package directions; drain and add to a buttered casserole or 13x9" pan.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Once sauce is done, pour sauce over pasta.  Do not mix!  Sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over sauce layer.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. 

Happy eating!

Classic Casseroles - Tater Tot Hot Dish

Casseroles were a staple meal growing up - put everything into one dish and bake away - how easy!  In rediscovering the treasured recipes of my grandma, I found "Tater Tot Hot Dish."  Ground beef, green beans, cream of chicken soup, and tater tots - an intriguing yet familiar combo.  Eerily similar to a freqnetly served casserole in my parents' house -  ground beef (which I'm convinced my family considered its own food group), cream of mushroom soup, canned green beans and... tater tots!

In honor of my grandma ("gramma" as we called her), I'm cooking at least 4 heirloom recipes each month.  As my sweetie is a meat and potatoes person, what better way to kick off the culinary tribute to gramma than with a hearty wintertime casserole?  Gramma's casserole was prepared slightly different than the one of my childhood, mostly because of the cream of chicken soup in her recipe and the sauteed onions.  She kept her treasured recipes in an old spiral-bound notebook literally falling apart.  I share the recipe from the book partially to preserve the writing!

A family staple - tater tot casserole

The casserole hails from a time where convenience foods, such as canned green beans were a way to eat out of season (frozen veggies were not as common) and condensed cream soups revolutionized cooking for housewives.  To me, one of the best tributes to these heirloom recipes is to celebrate them, but also to modernize.  I chose to update the recipe three ways - substituting cream of mushroom for cream of chicken (how I grew up eating this), adding in sauteed mushrooms (ups the nutrition), and swapping frozen green beans for canned (more nutritious and better texture).

I began by sauteeing the onions and mushrooms in a little oil until browned, then added in the ground beef.  For the green beans, I microwaved 1 cup of them for two minutes until cooked through.  Into a shallow casserole went the beef/onion/mushroom mixture, then the green beans, followed by a layer of tater tots to cover, about 1/2 the package.  I mixed the cream of mushroom soup with the milk as directed, then added salt and pepper to taste.  The soup/milk mixture was poured over top and the casserole.

I baked the casserole as directed in the recipe - 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes.  What appeared soupy and bland here became golden brown and had a good depth of flavor from the bubbling and baking.  The verdict?  Success!  This is an heirloom recipe updated for any modern family.  I hope you enjoy the updated take on the classic 1950's tater tot casserole:

The finished casserole - bubbly and delish!

Inspired Tater Tot Hot Dish
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 package (8 oz) mushrooms, sliced (white button or baby bella)
1 lb ground beef, chicken, or turkey
1 cup frozen green beans
1 can cream of mushroom soup (lower fat variety)
1 soup can of milk (2% used in recipe)
1/2 package frozen tater tots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Heat a skillet over medium heat and add vegetable oil.  When warm, saute onion until translucent, about 5 minutes.  Add in mushrooms and cook until lighly browned, 5 - 8 minutes.  Add in ground beef and break up with the back of the spoon.  Season with salt and pepper.  Continue cooking until meat is browned.  Remove from heat.  Meanwhile, in a microwave-safe dish, add green beans and cook for 1 - 2 minutes until thawed; drain excess water.  In a shallow casserole, add meat mixture, followed by green beans, then tater tots.  Mix cream of mushroom soup and milk until blended; season with salt and pepper to taste.  Pour soup over meat, green bean, and tater tot mixture.  Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 1 hour 15 minutes.  *Casserole may be assembled through the layering of the meat, green beans, and tots and refrigerated.  Just before baking, soup/milk mixture may be added.

Welcome to my family heritage recipes blog!

Do you remember a recipe that your grandma, mom, or other relative always made?  Was it the "classic" recipe everyone loved at a family gathering or the one you fondly recall from childhood?  I was fortunate to have a rich history of great cooking and baking passed on to me from my grandmother and mom.  After the passing of my grandma in 2011, I was inspired to create a blog celebrating not only her recipes, but the treasured recipes of others.  These recipes represent not only tasty food, but a link to our past and a way to carry the legacy of our ancestors forward.

Please join me in gathering and sharing these beloved recipes!