Nearly every Ohio recipe collection cookbook I own has a recipe or two for Johnny Marzetti. Each recipe is a little different. The original recipe is said to have been created by Teresa Marzetti (of T.Marzetti Co. dressings fame) in her Columbus, Ohio restaurant. It became very popular.
Despite living on the border of Ohio for most of my life, it was not popular at my house. I do not think that it was popular in southeastern Ohio at all, because I can’t find it in any of the cookbooks from that region. However, based on evidence from cookbooks and the Internet, I believe it was extremely popular in central and northeastern Ohio. I have no idea about southwestern Ohio, because…well, that is another story altogether.
One day I found myself not wanting to make my husband’s always requested American Goulash (aka. Hunky Mess) for pasta night two weeks in a row. I remembered that many of the Johnny Marzetti recipes seemed similar enough to goulash for my husband, yet different enough that I would not feel like we were in a total rut. So, I went about combining what I liked about a few of the recipes and adding some of my own ingredients.
None of the recipes I read used turmeric or paprika, I usually include both of these spices in most of the tomato sauce dishes I make. Turmeric is one of the spices that I feel has some added health benefits in addition to some flavor.
Like most recipes, this is one that should be adapted to individual tastes. Many of the recipes I read did not use mushrooms, I included them because my family loves mushrooms. In fact, at my husband’s suggestion, I now double the amount of mushrooms that I used in my original recipe. I stuck to sharing my original version with just a note about the amount of mushrooms because I am not sure everyone would appreciate the mushroom overload.
The other major change I made after my original version was to include mozzarella cheese. Most recipes only use cheddar or American cheese. However, I like the texture and flavor that is gained by adding mozzarella. Unlike the additional mushrooms, I have included the cheese as part of the recipe, but you can use whatever type of cheese you like.
While it will not replace “Hunky Mess” at my house (hunky mess is a very popular dish here), but it did make it into the rotation for pasta night. In other words, it was a success.
Johnny Marzetti Casserole
Ingredients
- 12 oz. dried, wide or extra wide egg noodles
- 1-2Tbsp. olive or similar oil
- 1 sm. onion, minced
- 1 bell pepper, small diced
- 1 lb. ground beef
- salt or to taste
- black pepper to taste
- 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
- 2 cans condensed tomato soup
- 1/2 tsp. turmeric
- 2 tsp. paprika
- 1 +/- Tbsp. Italian herb blend, to taste
- 1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 lb. sliced fresh* or 8 oz.drained canned mushrooms (We really love mushrooms, so I double this amount)
- 1 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded
- 2 to 3 c. sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Place a pot of water on the stove top and bring to a boil while you are preparing the other ingredients.
- When the water boils, add salt and noodles (probably while browning ground beef). Cook until al dente and drain, reserving some of the cooking water in case it is needed
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Brown ground beef until completely cooked. Drain grease, if needed, and place in a bowl.
- *If using fresh mushrooms - Add mushrooms to the skillet and cook until the release moisture and are tender and place into another bowl.
- Heat oil in skillet, add onion and bell pepper cooking until onion is translucent.
- Return cooked ground beef to skillet.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Stir in tomato paste and cook for a few minutes.
- Add tomato soup, turmeric, paprika, and Italian herb blend.
- Stir in Worcestershire sauce.
- Return the bowl ingredients to the skillet with the ground beef mixture.
- Remove from heat and mix in the mozzarella cheese and 1 c. of the cheddar cheese and mushrooms.
- Place 1/2 of the hot, cooked noodles in an approximately 9 X 13 inches baking dish sprayed with oil or non-stick cooking spray.
- Add 1/2 of the beef mixture and gently stir to coat noodles.
- Add other 1/2 of the noodles and gently stir in the remaining 1/2 of the beef mixture until all the noodles are coated.
- Spread noodles evenly in the dish and top with desired amount of cheddar cheese.
- Bake until cheese on top is melted and bubbly. Edges will be browned.
- Allow to set for a few minutes before serving.
