Sloppy Joe Casserole

This recipe is one I found online at allrecipes.com. Being a lover of Sloppy Joes, and casseroles, I just knew I had to check it out and see what it was all about. One look at what was in it, and how easy it looked, and I knew I’d be making this. And the kids loved it; gobbled it right down!

As for changes, I didn’t have the frozen corn they listed, so I used a can of corn; I doubled the garlic, nixed the salt and mustard, switched out the penne pasta for radiatore (but use penne if you want; I just wanted something more interesting), and added in some Worcestershire sauce. And guess what else? You got it: I added zucchini to amp up the nutrition! I wanted more veggies and the zucchini seemed like it would go well with this recipe. It did. ;)

So, let’s get cooking!

Set a large pot of water to boil, and when ready, cook the pasta. When done, drain and set aside. You can also do this step a day ahead or earlier in the day, which I often do. I just throw it in a gallon bag and then into the fridge it goes, awaiting its fate.

Dice the onion, pepper, and zucchini. Peel and mince the garlic.

In a skillet, brown the hamburg or ground turkey with the diced onion and pepper and the minced garlic. I used the ground turkey and it was great in this.

While that’s browning, shred the Colby-jack cheese. I didn’t have any on hand, so I used cheddar, which I *always* have on hand. Just pretend this looks like Colby-jack to you. If you squint a bunch and sort of tilt your head a little, it kind of does. Especially if you tilt your head, like all the way away from the picture.

Add the zucchini and sauté about 3 minutes, stirring several times.

Add the corn, diced tomatoes, ketchup, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and black pepper, mixing well. Let simmer until heated through, about 10 minutes.

Spread into a 10 X 15” baking dish. That’s the really big one; the humongo one; the big beluga of baking dishes.

Mix in some of the cheese and then sprinkle some on top if you’d like. Or not. I like, so I did. ;)





Throw it into an oven pre-heated to 350° and bake for about 25 minutes. Enjoy! ~TMMF

Sloppy Joe Casserole
         (feeds 8-10)
1 lb penne pasta
1 lb hamburg or ground turkey
1 green bell pepper
1 Vidalia onion
1/2 a zucchini
2 cloves garlic
1 can corn
1 14.5 oz can petite diced tomatoes
1 c ketchup
1 Tbl brown sugar
1 Tbl Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper
2 c Colby-Jack cheese



*Note: Okay, decision time. The original recipe calls for a pound of pasta, plus all the veggies. And then they say to put it in a 9 X 13” baking dish. Um, there is no way on God‘s green earth that this can fit in that size baking dish. This isn’t un-doable because I added the zucchini; the original recipe called for 2 c of frozen corn and I replaced it with a can of corn and a red pepper along with a green and I only used the green, so my zucchini didn’t make too much difference. If you want to try it anyway, go ahead. It’s your oven; I won’t have to clean up the mess. ;) But I’d suggest either using about 12 oz of pasta and the 9 X 13, or the whole pound of pasta and the 10 X 15.