I cooked us a pot roast at the weekend. I just popped it into the slow cooker early Sunday morning and a delicious dinner was waiting for us after church. I don't always remember to do that, but when I do its always nice to have something hot and delicious waiting for us when we get home. The enticing smell greets us at the door and gets our taste buds to really tingling.
Of course, cooking a pot roast at the weekend means we have leftovers to enjoy during the week. I like to think of myself as being the Queen of leftovers!
I love using up my leftovers and making delicious new things with them! While Todd might turn his nose up a bit at leftover cooked beef or pork, just sliced and re-heated, he always enjoys anything else that I might do with them!
Today I made a Greek Casserole, which essentially is almost like a lasagna, and a Greek Pastitsio, but using leftover cooked beef. If you don't have any leftover beef, you can use the equivalent in browned ground beef in its place.
A delicious sauce is created using the finely chopped roast beef, some softened onion and garlic, cinnamon (just a pinch), salt, white pepper and some tomato sauce/passata.
This gets layered in a shallow baking dish between layers of cooked elbow macaroni that you have beaten an egg into along with some seasoning . . .
Grated cheddar cheese gets spooned over the meat also before the second layer of macaroni. A lush cheese sauce get spooned over all of it . . . and a final layer of grated cheddar gilds the lily.
This is so, so, so delicious! Even Todd didn't mind that it was pasta!! Or leftovers!!
I did it in smaller quantities to serve 3 to 4 people, but you can very easily double the amounts to serve more. Its a really delicious and easy casserole to make. I served it simply with some crusty bread and a salad.
Greek Casserole
Yield: 3 - 4
Author: Marie Rayner
A smaller version of a delicious casserole which makes excellent use of leftover cooked roast beef. If you want, you can use the equivalent of browned ground beef in it's place.
ingredients:
1 small onion, peeled and minced
1 very small garlic clove, peeled and minced
1 TBS olive oil
1 1/2 cups minced cooked beef
dash of ground cinnamon
115g tomato passata (4 ounces, 1/2 cup tomato sauce)
1 1/2 TBS flour
1 1/2 TBS butter (plus 1 additional TBS for the macaroni)
240ml milk (1 cup)
salt, white pepper and nutmeg to taste
2 heaped TBS Parmesan cheese
115g small elbow macaroni (1 cup)
1 large free range egg, beaten
120g grated strong cheddar cheese (1 cup) divided
instructions:
First make the meat sauce. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onion and garlic. Cook until softened without browning. Add the meat, tomato sauce, cinnamon, and some salt and white pepper to taste. Set aside.
Melt the butter in another saucepan. Whisk in the flour. Cook for about 2 minutes. Slowly add the milk, whisking constantly. Cook, stirring until the mixture bubbles and thickens. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, a bit of salt if required, some white pepper and a grating of fresh nutmeg. Set aside and keep warm.
Cook the macaroni in lightly salted boiling water until al dente according to the package directions. Drain well. Return to the pot. Stir in half of the butter and then, using a wooden spoon and working quickly, briskly stir in the beaten egg. (It should not cook if you do it quickly.)
Preheat the oven to 190*C/375*F/ gas mark 5. Butter a shallow 1 litre/1 Qt baking dish.
Layer as follows into the dish, 1/2 the macaroni, all of the meat sauce, 1/2 of the grated cheddar, the remaining macaroni, and the cream sauce. Shake a bit to allow the cream sauce to sink a bit. Sprinkle with the remaining cheddar cheese.
Bake in the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes until golden brown and heated through. Serve hot.
My mother used to have a gentleman friend named George. George had owned a restaurant out in Edmonton Alberta with his ex wife. George used to make a Greek Casserole using macaroni also, but he included a layer of spinach in his and there was no tomato sauce. It was very good, and my children loved it. The Greeks know how to cook!
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