Thursday, September 06, 2007

Macaroni And Mushroom Casserole


Sometimes I can tell in advance that I'm not going to be feeling my moxie. Like most people, I resort to dishes that are simple to prepare and can be re-heated easily or better yet, served cold.

I'm a great believer in casseroles. While I personally do not mind the tuna/noodle concoction, my husband loathes it-intensely. I think that's reasonable if you didn't grow up eating it. Similarly, he isn't wild for things cooked with condensed soup (again, I don't really fault him or anyone else for that). Fortunately, I've more than a few casseroles up-my-sleeve that feature neither fish nor tinned soup-this is one of them. This recipe is based on the one in the Heritage Cookbook (with a few changes).

The beauty of a casserole is that you can make use of whatever is rotting away in your vegetable bins (ok, maybe not actually rotting, but you know, there's a great deal one can cut away before tossing vegetables out). I added some red pepper to the recipe today because I had it, but really, any old vegetables would do. The mushrooms feature prominently in this one, but everything else seems pretty open to change. Celery would have been a nice addition.

You Will Need:

½ lb. Elbow macaroni
Boiling salted water
5 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1-½ teaspoons flour
1-cup chicken broth
2 cups peeled, drained and chopped tomatoes (tinned ok)
Salt
Ancho pepper to taste
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1/3 cup grated cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Cook and drain macaroni. Melt the butter in a large pan and cook the onions until soft. Add mushrooms and cook five minutes. Add the flour and stir. Add the broth, salt and ancho pepper. Add the macaroni, top with parsley and cheese. Bake 20 minutes or until cheese has melted.

1 comment:

Goody said...

Yes, I realise chicken broth is not vegetarian. I meant to list that as chicken broth or vegetable broth.

You could use soy cheese as well.