Mrs. Geraldine's Ground Beef Casserole

From: Blue Skies

On Jul 8, 2009

I made this last night for dinner, yummy! Thanks for the recipe. I made quite lot of changes based on taste/what I had in the pantry, here's what I came up with: I used 1 28 oz can pureed tomatoes instead of the can of tomatoes & tomato sauce recipe called for. Added extra chopped sweet onion. Used red bell pepper and orange pepper instead of green, also probably used about 3/4 cup to a cup. Used about a teaspoon of celery seed instead of chopped celery. Substituted chopped artichokes instead of mushrooms. Used cream of celery soup instead of cream of mushroom. Used manchego cheese instead of cheddar. Used Penne cooked to al dente instead of cooked angel hair pasta. And as the other reviewer suggested, I added 2 cloves of fresh chopped garlic to the onions as they cooked, and I stirred the whole thing prior to baking. Mine was not watery at all nor did I have to wait for the sauce to reduce a lot over the stove, really was delicious! We are thinking next time I make it to add maybe some chopped jalapenos and/or chopped green chiles. Mmmm!!! This is definitely a keeper!!

From: Laurita

On Jun 14, 2009

I sent this recipe with my sweetie when he had to go work overseas. He doubled the recipe so should have fed 12 -16 people. Four guys ate it up with all taking a to go plate for lunch the next day. They said it was better the next day and everyone was emailing him wanting the recipe. So, he earned his executive chef status from this recipe! Surely a keeper, thanks for the awesome recipe. There are just some great cooks in this world, and Mrs. Geraldine must have been one of the best! Thanks for sharing!

From: Michelle S.

On Aug 12, 2004

Now I know what all the fuss is about! This is total comfort food. My DH inhaled 2 large plate fulls and I was ordered to amke this again. I read all the reviews and from them I took this with me before preparing it. I broke the pasta into thirds before cooking them. I used brown sugar instead of pickle juice. I left out the mushrooms (so the kids would eat it) and after I had all but the cheese layered, I took a spatula and gently went into the noodles so some sauce would seep down. The results were fantastic! Another must try Zaar recipe!

From: BrendaM

On May 5, 2004

Thank you Jellyqueen and Mrs. Geraldine! This was a wonderful casserole. I used a bit more ground beef.. probably about a pound and a half. Also, I didn't have any angel hair pasta so I used spaghetti. My can of tomatoes was 28 ounces, but it all worked out very well. The only other thing I did differently was to add a bit of fresh garlic when I was browning the meat! The end result was absolutely delicious and I'll certainly be making it again!