Caruso Casserole

My friend, Shelly, first made this casserole for a group of us and I thought it was wonderful.  I love it more and more each time I make it.  I always increase the amount of zucchini and tomato I put in it so that I have more veggies, but either way, it's going to be good.  I usually make sure that I have a total of 4 cups of zucchini and tomatoes. The day I made this one, I only had one tomato, but had loads of fresh zucchini.  I had 3 cups of zucchini and 1 cup of tomato.

If you don't like sausage, feel free to substitute beef or ground turkey (or leave it out altogether), but make sure you season it well, because the sausage usually does some of the job when it comes to flavor.  Also, I tend to mix the entire amount of cheese into the casserole instead of putting some on top.  That way, I have guaranteed cheese in every bite.  There is nothing worse than spooning out a serving of a casserole and much of the topping falls to the side.

Caruso Casserole

1 pound mild Italian sausage

1 cup onions

2 garlic cloves

4 Tbs. butter

4 Tbs. flour

1 tsp. Italian seasoning

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

2 cups milk

3 cups mozzarella cheese, divided

4 cups (½ of 12oz bag) noodles, cooked

1 cup zucchini slices halved

1 cup tomatoes, chopped

Cook egg noodles (if you haven't already).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook sausage, onion and garlic in skillet until sausage is brown and crumbly. Drain and set aside.

Melt butter, stir in flour and seasons until smooth. Remove from heat and stir in milk. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly for 1 minute. Reduce heat to low and stir in 2 cups of cheese. 

Stir in cooked sausage mixture noodles, zucchini and tomatoes. Turn into buttered 9 x 13 casserole dish and bake for 25 minutes. 

Remove from oven and sprinkle with 1 cup cheese.  Return to oven to melt cheese.

As you can see, instead of the cheese topping, I just mixed it into the rest of the casserole. I really hope you enjoy this.  Make sure you comment and share with friends.

See a full index of The Orange Skillet Recipes here.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Believe it or not, Chinese take-out is an huge part of American meals. It's delicious and somewhat sinful. Meat fried in fat dipped in sugar, sweet and sour chicken is one of my all-time favorites. There is no way that any of that is actually good for you, but there is a way to make it yourself with fewer calories and all the flavor. Today, I'm going to share with you a baked version of the sweet and sour chicken.  You still have to fry the chicken for a little bit, but it won't absorb nearly the amount of oil and fat as the regular sweet and sour chicken.

Anytime you're frying foods on the stove, be very careful.  The oil is very hot and can burn you very easily.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Coating

3-4 boneless chicken breasts

Salt & pepper

1 cup corn starch

2 eggs, beaten

¼ cup canola oil

Sauce

¾ cup sugar

4 Tbs. ketchup

½ cup distilled white vinegar

1 Tbs. Soy sauce

1 tsp. garlic salt

Preheat oven to 325.

Rinse chicken breasts and cut into cubes. Season them with Salt & Pepper, to taste. Dip chicken into corn starch to coat and then dip into eggs.

Heat oil in large skillet and cook chicken until browned, but not cooked through. Place chicken in 9x13 greased baking dish.  Mix sauce ingredients in a bowl with whisk and then pour over chicken.

Bake for 1 hour and turn chicken every 15 minutes.

Have this with fried rice or serve as an appetizer.  Enjoy!

See a full index of The Orange Skillet Recipes here.