Blogs and Stories
The Ultimate Recession Food
Seduction (Mac & Corn 2.0)
Don’t blame me if every person who eats this wants to sleep with you, marry you, or both. Or blame me if you want. There’s a reason this, my signature casserole, is called “Seduction.” And it’s not because the ingredients themselves are sexy. I’ll leave the rest up to your imagination. This dish is served best with a bottle of dry red, a mixed green salad, and your favorite playlist.
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
1 lb. cavatelli
2 cloves garlic, minced (you might want to skip if you’re actually trying to seduce someone)
1 large white onion, diced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup milk (low fat or skim is fine, not that it really matters at this point)
1/2 lb. sharp cheddar, cubed or shredded
1/2 lb. white cheddar, cubed or shredded
1/2 lb, Gruyère, cubed or shredded
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
1 (10 oz, bag) Cascadian Farm frozen organic sweet corn
Salt and pepper
1/2 lb. fresh mozzarella, cubed
2 plum tomatoes, thinly sliced
Directions
Preheat oven to 350ºF.
Parboil the pasta, drain and set aside.
In a large pot, over medium heat sauté the garlic and onion in 2-3 tbsp of olive oil. When the onions begin to brown, reduce the heat to low, add milk, and stir. Add both cheddars and Gruyère while continuing to stir. When the cheeses begin to melt, add the cavatelli while continuing to stir. Once the cavatelli is well coated, add half of the Parmesan (1/4 cup) and stir. Add corn while continuing to stir (it should go in frozen). Salt and pepper to taste. Add mozzarella and stir.
When thoroughly mixed, transfer to a 3 qt. buttered or greased casserole dish and bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes or until bubbly.
Remove from oven and cover with sliced tomatoes and the rest of the Parmesan cheese.
Bake for about 15 more minutes.
Let stand 10 minutes before eating.
Emily Farris is the author of Casserole Crazy: Hot Stuff for Your Oven and founder of New York’s Annual Casserole Party. When not slaving over casseroles in her tiny Brooklyn kitchen, she edits Nerve's culture blog, Scanner.
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
In the UK people are turning more to haggis as times get tight http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-wellbeing/health-news/in troducing-the-national-dish-of-sassenachs-1055689.html not much of an idea for vegetarians out there though
I find it so weird that people are anti-casserole.They are really good! Isn't the idea partly that they are cheap? I find these articles I have been seeing lately where people are saying casseroles are back and then giving us recipes that have ingredients that cost $20 or more kind of silly. I can make a good casserole for under $10. If I am needing to spend more than that, I might as well make something else!
Also, what's up with the boyfriend being embarrassed she brought a casserole? Get a life!
Like Midwesterners (to whom so many of us relate), we Brits have never given up on casseroles. And even after 27 years in the US, as a poorly paid freelance writer, I still make them weekly: cauliflower or broccoli cheese, shepherd's pie, ground buffalo chili, you name it, using cheap but natural/organic ingredients. The best inexpensive, hot, and lasting one-dish meals in the world. Why would anyone even think of querying such logical food choices, especially in this economy? Great little piece, Emily. Daily Beast should do more of these shoestring budget pieces as a column.
Yum, love cheap food! There is something really comforting about it.
a $20 casserole? Seriously? I love one pot food with an unholy enthusiasm, always have, but with 20 bucks I could also do 4 classy courses for a family of 6. Show me a 5 dollar casserole that feeds 8, tastes good and still has leftovers and I'll be impressed.
THERE IS NO TILDE IN HABANERO!
And, they are sold in the orange-red state, not green, in the super mercado.
a 5 dollar casserole that feeds 8? Dunno what the grocery prices are like where braindouche lives but unless you're shopping at the dollar store and are prepared to have a mushy all-canned-items flavorless casserole, food costs more than that.
Anyhow I loved this column. The last recipe looks freaking amazing and I'm ready to try that sweet potato recipe. And I suppose I'll make the tuna one for my midwestern-descended bf.
You go girl! In an effort to reduce my grocery bill last week, I took to cleaning out my fridge with my roommate out of town. I came up with some interesting combinations such as bacon, pickled pepper, aging mushroom pasta. It rocks. Now, to find something to do with the organic filet mignon I found in the freezer. But it's nearly four years old. Perfectly preserved but still. Can't chance a visit to the emergency room. God knows how I'd pay for it.
On a cold, windy winter night, there are few dishes so satisfying as an Alsatian potato and bacon casserole. Just thinking about this, I wish it were cold and windy right now.
"I was barely out of the bassinet when the country last experienced a recession."
That would make you...six years old?
Let's hear it for casseroles! Now, if I can just get a finicky teenager to eat 'em!
yucky!
casseroles aren't popular because they are disgusting. I don't care if you use organic Gorgonzola and fresh organic arugula it's still a weird dish of mush. Plus there are a lot of us who were raised on enchiladas, posle, and tamales... talk about cheap and delicious!
maybe the cookware, cooking show, and cookbook industry makes more money on multipart, multiplate, multipot, multitrend food.
Adrien - I hope you didn't ditch the frozen organic filet mignon. Thaw it, smell it. If it smells fine it is fine. If it was wrapped well it is just fine. Make a beef strogonoff with it.
Aloha,
Ellie
Thank you.
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