Cottage Pie

For my cozy fall recipe, I'm suggesting the Cottage Pie I made last week.  This was based on a recipe in my new cookbook - Love Welcome Serve by Amy Hannon.  However, I simplified it quite a bit so I decided to type it out here.

Spaghetti Casserole

This is another main dish I tried this week from The Star of Texas Cookbook.  It was tasty and very easy.

A few notes...

• Like many casseroles, I would classify this as comfort food...lots of cheese and not very healthy.  However you could easily lighten it up a little.  You could use lite cream cheese and sour cream.
• Also, like many casseroles, I think this tasted better the second day.
• I used the recipe to make two small pans and froze one (instead of making one 9 x 13 pan).
• My UK adaptation...I can't find tomato sauce here, so I diluted "double concentrate tomato puree" to make tomato sauce.

2 T butter
1 clove garlic
1 t sugar
1 t salt
Pepper to taste
1.5 lbs ground beef
16 oz tomato sauce
8 oz spaghetti
3 oz cream cheese, softened
1.5 cups sour cream
6 green onions, chopped
8 oz cheddar cheese, grated

1.  Preheat oven to 350F.

2.  Put the butter in a cold skillet.  Add garlic, and mash with sugar, salt and pepper.  Cook until butter is melted, then add meat and brown.

3.  Add tomato sauce and simmer uncovered for 20 minutes.

4.  Cook spaghetti according to package direction.

5.  Combine cream cheese, sour cream and green onions.

6.  Place spaghetti in a 9x13 dish.  Top with cream-cheese mixture and then meat mixture.  Sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.

7.  Bake uncovered for about 30 minutes.

Hash Brown Breakfast Casserole

I made this for a Father's Day brunch, and it was soooo good.  Very easy too!  Thanks to Southern Living for the photo and the recipe!

Yield: Makes 8 servings (very GENEROUS servings)

Ingredients

• 1  pound  ground hot pork sausage (I used mild and it was still very tasty.)
• 1/4  cup  chopped onion
• 2 1/2  cups  frozen cubed hash browns
• 5  large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2  cups  (8 ounces) shredded sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 3/4  cups  milk
• 1  cup  all-purpose baking mix
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  pepper
• Toppings: picante sauce or green hot sauce, sour cream
• Garnish: fresh parsley sprigs

Preparation

Cook sausage and onion in a large skillet over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until meat crumbles. Stir in hash browns, and cook 5 to 7 minutes or until sausage is no longer pink and potatoes are lightly browned. Drain mixture on paper towels; spoon into a greased 13- x 9-inch baking dish.

Stir together eggs, cheese, and next 4 ingredients; pour evenly over sausage mixture, stirring well. Cover and chill 8 hours.

Bake, covered with nonstick foil, at 350° for 45 minutes. Uncover and bake 10 to 15 more minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven, and let stand 5 minutes. Serve with desired toppings. Garnish, if desired.