In honor of mom's grandma's birthday today, we decided to make her famous spaghetti casserole recipe and share it with y'all! Ellie Mae Buck was a very special lady, and I know she's our angel now. Mom says she would have loved me very much and spoiled me, just like she did mom.
This recipe is apparently Ellie's modification of King Ranch Casserole, and some other recipes I've found in her old cook books. Obviously it isn't the healthiest thing out there, but you can subsititute healthier ingredients as you like. This recipe goes a long way and freezes well.
First, brown about a pound of hamburger meat with some sliced onions. You can use ground turkey, and even chicken if you like!
Add cracked pepper, dried or fresh parsley, and salt to taste.
For a pizza flavor, add oregano and basil. For a mexican flavor you can add paprika, chili powder, or taco seasoning.
Next we used corn, mushroom soup, tomato sauce, and tomato paste. we used low-sodium corn and low fat mushroom soup.
We usually use a 12 oz can of tomato paste and sauce each, but this is what Grandma Mary brought us back from the store. Since she's the only one who can drive, we had to make due. :) We used two packages of sauce and one of paste. This doesn't have to be exact.
Here we have fresh garlic. This is mom's favorite kitchen tool, the mezzaluna. It means "half-moon" in Italian. You just rock it back and forth to cut garlic, onions, parsley, cilantro...anything you want cut fine.
Here we've added the mushroom soup and tomato mixture to the ground meat.
Grandma Ellie always added bay leaves, but we didn't have any.
At this point, we add the magic ingredient, which is whole cloves. Add as many as you want, we added 8.
Let the sauce simmer for an hour. Yes, an hour! Ellie always said to leave it for an hour, so that's what you do.
While it's simmering, do some floor exercises!
Meanwhile, have on hand 12 oz of boiled elbow noodles. Mix them with the sauce in a large bowl. Lucky for us, we have Ellie Mae's big yellow spaghetti bowl. Perfect! See below:
Next, it's time to grate the cheese. You can use any kind of cheese, and here we use sharp cheddar that grandma got from the farmer's market.
Shredding cheese is hard work. If you need to take a break, don't be ashamed.
Next, sprinkle the cheese on top of the sauce and noodle mixture and place in the oven.
Since the ingredients are already cooked, you only need to heat them long enough to melt the cheese.
Heat at 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until the cheese bubbles.
And voila! It is done! Serve in heaping spoonfills onto a plate or bowl, and enjoy!
Leftovers can be divided into servings and put in the freezer, and fresh cheese grated on them when defrosted.
Happy Birthday, Grandma Ellie!
Thanks Grandma Mary, for helping us get the ingredients.
