Diane's Food Blog

After making a large batch of Spanish romesco sauce to go with seared scallops for dinner one night, and then eating the leftovers for several days as a dip with chips and veggies, I needed a new use for it. As it was smack in the middle of a very cold Minnesota winter, I was really craving some comfort food (read: Minnesota “hotdish”). A quick Google search resulted in zero hits for the type of recipe I had in mind, so I went to the kitchen and made one up on the spot. And it’s a keeper!

Diane’s Romesco Beef Casserole
1 lb ground beef
1 large onion, diced
½ red bell pepper, sliced
1 rib celery, chopped
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
1 C Spanish romesco sauce
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
Salt and pepper
Cantonese hot chile oil or crushed red pepper flakes to taste – optional
½ C diced tomatoes
2 C cooked egg noodles
1 C shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350° F. In a medium pan over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef, breaking it apart. When most of the red color is gone, add the onion, bell pepper, celery and minced garlic and cook until the beef is browned and the onions are softened. Drain excess fat and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the romesco sauce and condensed soup. Add the browned ground beef mixture and stir to combine. Add salt and pepper to taste and, if using, add the hot oil/hot pepper flakes as well. Stir in the diced tomatoes and cooked egg noodles and mix well.

Pour into a 9 x 13 baking dish and top with the shredded mozzarella cheese. Spray a large piece of foil with cooking spray and tightly cover the pan, sprayed-side down (to prevent the cheese from sticking). Bake at 350° for 30-45 minutes or until bubbling.

Then remove the foil from the pan, turn on the oven’s broiler, and place the uncovered pan under the broiler for several minutes to brown the cheese. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Step by Step Details

In a medium pan over medium-high heat, brown the ground beef with the onion, bell pepper, celery and minced garlic and cook until the beef is browned and the onions are softened. Drain excess fat and set aside.

You may notice the bell peppers missed this photo shoot. The first time I made this I actually used my favorite stand-in: Trader Joe’s frozen fire roasted peppers and onions, and added them in later. Perfectly acceptable. Equally delicious.

In a large bowl, mix everything together except the mozzarella cheese. And salt and pepper to taste. If you want a little extra spicy kick, add that in now, too. I used a couple teaspoons of my Cantonese hot oil, but hot pepper flakes should work as well.

Pour into a 9 x 13 baking dish and top with the shredded mozzarella cheese. (I used a smaller dish in these photos, in case you were wondering. I only made a half batch the first time. I didn’t want to commit to a full batch in case it wasn’t any good.)

Spray a large piece of foil with cooking spray and tightly cover the pan, sprayed-side down (to prevent the cheese from sticking). Bake at 350° for 30-45 minutes or until bubbling.

Then remove the foil from the pan, turn on the oven’s broiler, and place the uncovered pan under the broiler for several minutes to nicely brown the cheese. How awesome does that look?!

Let stand 10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!