Amish Ground Beef and Noodle Casserole

By jab120638

A satisfyingly rich and hearty casserole from the Pennsylvania Dutch country.

Ingredients

• 2 cups sour cream (16 ounce container)
• 2 cups small curd cottage cheese (16 ounce container)
• 1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, minced
• 1 package (7 to 8 ounce) medium egg noodles
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 pounds lean ground round or well-trimmed chuck
• 1 can (6 ounce) tomato paste
• 1 small jar (14 ounce) pizza sauce
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil, or 1 teaspoon. dried
• 1 tablespoon fresh oregano, or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

Preparation

Step 1

In a small mixing bowl, combine the sour cream, cottage cheese, onion, and parsley; set aside. In a large saucepan, cook the noodles according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large saute pan, over medium heat, and add the ground beef, stirring now and then until the meat is no longer pink. Drain off all liquid and discard. Stir in the tomato paste, pizza sauce, basil, oregano, salt and pepper and simmer for 5 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 325-f degrees. Grease a 9 x 13-inch pan and begin layering as follows: one-third of the meat sauce, one-half of the noodles, and one-half of the sour cream mixture. Repeat these layers, ending with the meat sauce. Bake covered for 1 hour or until the casserole is bubbly. If you would like, remove the cover the last 20 minutes of baking to crunch up the topping a bit. Allow to stand for 15 minutes, then serve.