Fox Valley Cooks:
By Judy Buchenot For The Beacon-News January 31, 2012 5:02PM
Marian Olander adds mini pepperoni slices to her quick and easy hot dish recipe. | Judy Buchenot~For The Beacon-News
Pizza Hot Dish
16 ounces pasta noodles
1 teaspoon salt
1 pound Italian sausage
1/2 onion, chopped
10-3/4-ounce can cream of mushroom soup
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
14 ounces pizza sauce
5 ounces pepperoni slices
16 ounces shredded mozzarella
2-1/4 ounces sliced black olives
Sauté onions and sausage until sausage is no longer pink. Add pepper. In a large pot, cook noodles in salted water, according to package directions.
Drain noodles. Add meat and onion mixture. Stir in olives, pizza sauce, mushroom soup and pepperoni. Place in oven-safe dish and cover. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Uncover; add cheese and bake 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Article Extras
Updated: February 20, 2012 10:16AM
When Joe Olander came home from his tour in the Army, his mother, Marian Olander, asked him what he wanted most for dinner.
“He said he wanted Pizza Hot Dish,” says Marian, referring to a family favorite. “It’s just a great comfort food recipe that all my kids like.”
Marian’s five children are all adults now. Three of the children are married, and two will tie the knot this spring in ceremonies only six weeks apart. She has seven grandchildren but knows the number will probably grow in the years ahead. She enjoys cooking for all of them.
Marian and her husband are from Wisconsin and still own a farm there. She noted that, north in Wisconsin and Minnesota, mixing ingredients together to bake in one pot is more frequently referred to as a “hot dish” rather than a “casserole.”
Marian isn’t the only one who likes to cook in the Olander family.
When her mother-in-law passed away a few years ago, her sister-in-laws gathered their mother’s recipes and invited other family members to submit recipes for a cookbook.
“The idea was to pass along all of the recipes to the next generation,” Marian says.
The cookbook includes the Pizza Hot Dish, as well as recipes for great window cleaner and babies’ milk.
“When we get together, we like to make recipes that are in the cookbook,” Marian says.
Although she offers a recipe for the Pizza Hot Dish, Marian says it can be varied according to taste.
“Not everyone likes the same things on their pizza and not everyone will like the same things in their Pizza Hot Dish,” Marian says.
As long as the recipe includes noodles, cream of mushroom soup, pizza sauce and cheese, the other ingredients can be changed. Choose sausage or pepperoni or even ground beef. Other vegetables found on pizzas like red peppers or mushrooms can be added. The cheese also can be altered according to taste. Marian uses spiral noodles in her recipe.
“Sometimes, it can be just what you have on hand that determines what is in the hot dish,” Marian notes.
It can be mixed ahead and kept in the refrigerator until it is time to bake it. It also can be baked and reheated.
“It is great the second day as a leftover,” Marian says. “The flavors really seem to blend.”
Know someone who really likes to cook and is good at it? Contact columnist Judy Buchenot at Buchenot@comcast.net.
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