Macaroni and Beef Casserole

One thing I’ll say for Wartime Recipes from the Maritimes, if you are looking for some inspiration when it comes to using up leftovers, it’s got a lot of options! In this case, I had gravy. Lots of delicious gravy, which I didn’t want to go to waste. This recipe came to my rescue!

Ingredients

2 cups macaroni
1 1/2 cups cooked beef, chopped (I used ground beef)
2 cups gravy
1/2 onion, chopped
1 cup grated cheese
Buttered breadcrumbs
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease a shallow baking dish. Cook the macaroni (9 minutes, salted water). Drain pasta. 

Mix macaroni, beef, onion, gravy, grated cheese and salt and pepper. Pour into baking dish. Cover with buttered breadcrumbs. 

Bake for 20 minutes until golden and bubbling.  

I had some delicious gravy made with roast chicken drippings and Cantonese BBQ duck stock (it was amazing), and this was my vehicle for using it all.

Even with cooking ground beef especially for this, the dish was a breeze to assemble. Except when I got to the part about buttered breadcrumbs. I had no idea what they were. My partner later found a description (that I now can’t find again). They are, apparently, breadcrumbs toasted in butter in a frying pan.

Not knowing what they were supposed to be, I made something up …

The verdict

This one was a hit. I’d like to think it mostly due to that fantastic gravy, but it’s probably the magical combo of pasta, cheese, gravy, and crunchy, toasty, bread-y bits on top (a total win for ignorance). My kid LOVED this recipe too. I will definitely make this again.

[Update: I made another dinner with this recipe but using leftover chicken instead of beef, and it was just as good!]

Do you have good gravy (ha!) recipes for leftovers?