Recipe from the Past: 7-Layer Casserole

 

It's the beginning of beautiful AUTUMN! And here's a delicious comfort dish to share with you all! 

My recipe collection keeps growing and growing! We celebrated our 52nd wedding anniversary last month, which means I've been preparing meals for five decades already! Besides the cooking done while still at home with my parents and brothers.

And somehow, I have forgotten to share this recipe from the years when our six children were still in our home. Forgotten until recently when one of our sons contacted me for the recipe! I actually have not made it for quite a few years, because, well, as I've mentioned, I have a lot of recipes collected by now. But this one should not be forgotten. (Thanks, Seth, for the reminder!)

I have no idea how many times I made this recipe when our six were still home, just that I know it was many, many times. And what fun it was for me to pull out the recipe and make it again a few weeks ago. And we loved it, just the two of us! Enough for a few meals for us that week, and also one I put in the freezer for a later time!

7-Layer Casserole

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups rice, uncooked

1 can corn, including liquid

1 1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

3 small cans tomato sauce, divided

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup onion chopped OR 1 tsp dry onion

1 1/2 lb ground beef

3/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

1/3 cup water

4 strips bacon, cut in half

Directions:

Layer ingredients in a 3-quart (or 9x13) lightly greased pan:

rice, corn & liquid, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, 1 1/2 small cans tomato sauce, 3/4 cup water, onion, ground beef, 3/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, 1 1/2 cans tomato sauce, and 1/3 cup water.

Cover meat evenly with bacon. Cover casserole.

Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour (or a bit longer).

Uncover, bake 20 minutes or until bacon is crisp. (I often turn the broiler on for some minutes at the end to crisp up the bacon good.)