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!