I found this recipe at the bottom of The Bag on a small piece clipped from the local newspaper with the byline of a lady who must’ve published a bunch of recipes in the paper, because I’ve come across a number of them while choosing what to make for The Doris Project.
This one seemed a bit muddled, since it called for sour cream, but then didn’t say what to do with it, so…
I went to da Google…
and, boy, howdy! did I find answers.
The recipe originated with the fine folk at Pillsbury and calls for using a tin of their Crescent rolls – almost as if you were making a spaghetti sauce pot pie.
And it’s good, too.
But, then, I changed a few, small things.
Instead of just browning the ground beef and onion, then stirring it into a jar of pasta sauce with some sour cream and spreading that in the bottom of a 13×9 inch baking pan, topping it with a bit of shredded Mozzarella, topping that with the flattened out roll dough and then topping the dough with melted butter stirred into grated Parmesan cheese…
I took a pint of cottage cheese and creamed it with one tablespoon of white vinegar to make a very nice sour cream substitute that is half the calories, 1/5 of the fat, 1/3 of the cholesterol, and FIVE TIMES the protein of sour cream. And that’s REGULAR cottage cheese – which (check the label) should be just: Milk, Cream, Salt. Compare that label to one of those “light” sour cream things.
Just dump the cheese in your food processor, fitted with the metal blade, along with the vinegar and pulse until smooth.
I also opted to make my Doctored Sauce instead of just using a plain jar, added back olives and pepperoni, ’cause we like those on our pizza, and substituted nice olive oil for the butter to toss with the grated Parmesan.
The result? Wicked tasty comfort food, and overall, not too, too bad for you!
INGREDIENTS
Casserole:
•1 lb ground beef
•1 sweet onion, diced (about 2 cups)
•1 batch Best! Doctored Sauce – or one jar or four preferred pasta sauce
•1-1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella
•1/2 cup sour cream (or creamed cottage cheese)
•1 (18 oz) can crescent rolls
•2 tbsp butter, melted
•1/3 cup shredded Parmesan
Best! Doctored Sauce:
•1 (24 oz) jar sauce
•1/2 jar water
•1/4 cup red wine
•1 can (14-1/2 oz) diced tomatoes
•1/2 tsp dried basil
•1/2 tsp dried oregano
•1/2 tsp dried parsley
•1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
•1/2 tsp seasoned salt
•1/2 tsp Aleppo pepper
•1 bay leaf
•1 tbsp sugar
•1/2 tsp black pepper
•1/4 tsp red chili flakes
•1 tsp Cajun Power Spicy Garlic Pepper Sauce (or your favorite hot sauce)
Additions:
•1/4 cup sliced black olives
•Sliced pepperoni
Brown the ground beef with the onion in a Dutch oven over medium high heat until the beef is cooked through, the onion is tender, and most cooking liquid has, been rendered off.
Add the tomato sauce, tomatoes, and seasonings, bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer, partially covered, for 90 minutes, until the sauce has thickened and the flavors have blended together.
Stir in the creamed cottage cheese, black olives, and pepperoni, if adding, and set aside.
Heat your oven to 375º.
Arrange the beef and pasta sauce over the bottom of a 13×9 inch baking pan and top with shredded Mozzarella to cover.
Spread the crescent roll dough out flat – next time I make this, I think mebbe I’ll give it a wee, tiny bit of a rolling out to make it cover the pan better – and arrange over the top of the cheese.
Combine the olive oil with the Parmesan cheese and crumble over the rolls. I ended up using a pastry brush to spread it around a bit more than I could just using my fingers.
Pop the whole shebang (uncovered) into your hot oven for 20 to 30 minutes, then remove and let rest for five or ten minutes before serving.
Simple, really not too, too bad for you, and delicious. I made this over the course of an afternoon while in the grip of an annoying flu virus and had plenty of time between steps to go back to bed and nap, so I can pretty much guarantee that this is a stress-free dinner to prepare.
Mom’ll be happy to know it’d be a good thing to bring to one of those Pitch-In Dinners, too.