Sunday, September 18, 2011

Overnight Rotini Casserole ~ Easty to convert to gluten free

As mentioned before, we usually have a full house on Sunday's for lunch.  This is a great make ahead recipe!
The recipe calls for Rotini pasta which is the spiral pasta.  To make the recipe gluten free susbstitute with gluten free macaroni rice noodles - it worked great and we all ate the same casserole without anyone noticing it was gluten free.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef                  
1 cups diced onion
1 cup diced green pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 cups hot water
1 envelope onion soup mix (for gluten free please read ingredients and choose a gluten free one)
1 teaspoon italian seasoning (I used 3/4 tsp. oregano and 1/4 tsp. thyme)
3 cups uncooked rotini pasta (or gluten free macaroni rice noodles)
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
Method:
Oil or butter a 9"X 13" glass casserole dish.  In a pot, fry the hamburger, onion, pepper and garlic on medium heat until hamburger is brown - stirring frequently.  If there is any grease - drain.
Stir in the crushed tomatoes, water , onion soup mix and seasonings.  Stir in the pasta and spoon into the prepared casserole dish.
Cover with aluminum foil and refredigerate 8 hours and no more than 24 hours.
Bake at 350 for 1 hour.  Remove foil, sprinkle on shredded cheese and return to oven for 10 minutes until the cheese is melted.
Serves 8 -10
Serve with salad, sliced veggies, and or buns.

I made this one with rice macaroni noodles from our local chinese store.