Pizzeria Casserole

I found this recipe years ago from some Smart & Final publication.  Maybe even on the back of one of their products.  The recipe is written for 16 servings, which makes it easy for me to make for swapping purposes because I don't have to do any math.

2/3 c chopped black olives
Parm-Romano cheese blend, to taste
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 c sliced mushrooms
2 lbs. Italian sausage (I used a mix of hot and sweet)
2 c shredded pizza cheese blend
28 oz. tomato strips with basil
1/2 tsp pepper
28 oz. pizza sauce
2 tsp. dried oregano
7 oz. sliced pepperoni
5 c ditalini pasta
1 lge onion, chopped
2 tsp. dried basil

Preheat the oven to 350.  Cook pasta; drain.  Meanwhile, cook sausage and onion over medium heat till meat is no longer pink and is broken up.  Drain.  In large bowl combine pizza sauce and tomato strips.  Stir in sausage mixture, pasta, pepperoni, mushrooms, black olives, basil, oregano, salt & pepper.  Transfer to greased baking dish.  Sprinkle with pizza cheese blend, covering entire dish.  Bake 45 minutes till cheese is golden brown.  Remove and top with Romano cheese blend.

So...of course I had a few substitutes...and omissions.  I did not give you cheese blend for after baking.  I did not add any salt to the dish.  I used regular canned tomatoes with "spice" instead of strips.  I made my own pizza sauce (tomato sauce cooked up with Italian seasoning).  I might have forgot to put in pepperoni?  Oops.  I used rotini pasta instead of ditalini, and because rotini is much larger than ditalini, I used about 4 cups of pasta.  Also, I used WAY more than 2 cups of shredded cheese blend to top the dishes (and did not use pizza cheese blend).   I think I used 2 cups of cheese per Pyrex pan instead of 2 cups total for all 16 servings...the cheese was not covering the pans.  Also, since the dish is meant to be baked up in one big pan, and I divided it up into 3 pans, cooking time takes less than 45 minutes...20-30 is a better guestimate.  Everything is cooked, you're just heating everything through and melting cheese.  Oh and "large" bowl is really an undertatement.  You need a HUGE bowl.  I whipped out my giant Tupperware bowl and it was nearly full when I added all the ingredients.

Chicken Enchiladas

This is Kiersten's recipe, although I have made a few changes to morph it into the dish I cooked up.  I kind of consider her recipe more of a method than an exact science.

1 can cream of chicken soup
1 c sour cream
1 small can diced green chiles
2 c grated cheese
3 c cooked cubed chicken
6-8 flour tortillas, torn in small pieces

Mix all ingredients together.  Spread in greased baking dish and bake at 350 for 45-60 minutes. 

The dish freezes well.  Freeze uncooked, then thaw overnight in the fridge before baking as above.

I did not use soup and chiles, but used about 10 oz. of red enchilada sauce...about the same amount as a can of soup. (I use Las Palmas brand).  I also added 1 can of large olives, chopped, and a few green onions, chopped as well as I could get them chopped.  I used 6 large flour tortillas.  I did not measure the cheese cup for cup but probably used slightly more than 2 cups.

I have also made the dish with green enchilada sauce, and have used corn tortillas instead of flour to get a different texture.  Since corn tortillas are smaller I think 8-10 is about what I've used.   I can also see using a different meat or even a similar amount of cooked veggies (or a mix of the 2) but I haven't done that just yet.

Taco Casserole

This is what Hannah made this last time, I had to get her recipe it was so yummy.  It's from delish.com:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/el-dorado-beef-casserole/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=el%20dorado%20beef%20casserole&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

Instead of using chips in the dish she used corn tortillas.  I will probably steal this recipe for future swaps, both with our group and my other swapping group.