When a recipe comes from a different region than what you live in, you find that it can sometimes take on a different name, or that it is unique because of its states traditions with food. Hotdish recipes are not new to the Midwest, they are simple do-it-yourself recipes, where hotdish ingredients are placed into a casserole dish. The principal ingredients of a Hotdish are: Meat, a canned cream soup, and a vegetable, that’s it, what you add to these ingredients are your choice, sounds simple enough right?
Let’s take a road trip to Minnesota where hotdish is nothing new, but is extremely popular, so popular that they have an annual State competition. The recipes used in Minnesota are old ones passed on from generation to generation, and they take pride in them. Thanks to Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota we here in Ohio have been cooking up an overwhelming amount of tried and true Hotdish recipes, we just didn’t know it!
Over the next few weeks, I will be sharing a few of my favorite hotdish recipes, but today let’s start at the beginning and create the original hotdish recipe called: Plain Hotdish, this basic recipe is one of Minnesotans favorites and it is the foundation to many recipes that would follow, allowing us to create a new hotdish recipe because of it, and this makes for new family favorites at our dinner table.
Once you read the ingredients in this recipe you will quickly see that Minnesota’s Plain Hotdish recipe has already taken on a different name here in Ohio, we call it Goulash, and I bet its loved in your home just as much, as it is in ours!
“Plain Hotdish”
- 1 ½ pounds of ground beef
- 1 small onion diced
- 1 can of diced tomatoes
- 1 can of tomato sauce
- 1 can of tomato soup
- 1 Tbsp. beef base
- 1 cup of ketchup
- 3-4 cups of elbow macaroni
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions
- Cook your macaroni as directed on the package
- Brown hamburger and diced onion over medium heat
- Add tomato paste, tomato sauce, tomato soup, ketchup, and beef base to the hamburger/onion mixture, salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let simmer on low heat, stirring regularly.
- Drain the macaroni once cooked, and add the noodles to the hamburger mixture, or plate the noodles and serve the sauce over top.
- Garnish with your favorite cheese, and serve it up with your favorite bread.
Do Enjoy!