Against my better judgment, I made a casserole.

I know, can you believe it?  
 

Let me explain to my new readers...I loathe casseroles.  Most casseroles look like a dogs dinner to me and are about as unappetizing to look at as such.  I have never been big on casseroles and even challenged some friends to go no a 30 day NO CASSEROLE challenge!  But my sister wanted this casserole, that I had eaten once before so I thought heck, in order to please everyone, I will need to resign myself to making an occassional casserole.

That being said, the casserole I made is called a "Runza Casserole" which is a whole other explaination in itself.  If your not from the midwest,  Wiki has this to say about the "Runza".

 A runza (also called a bierock, fleischkucheor Kraut Pirok) is a yeast dough bread pocket with a filling consisting of beef, pork, cabbage, or sauerkraut, onions, and seasonings. They are baked in various shapes such as a half-moon, rectangle, round (bun), square, or triangle. In Nebraska, the runza is usually baked in a rectangular shape. The bierocks o Kansas, on the other hand, are generally baked in the shape of a bun. 

 

We have a fastfood chain here in Nebraska called, "Runza".  It is in fact exactly what it says above.  I have observed that people love them or hate them, there is no inbetween.  My husband, hates them, I love them.  I order a runza with cheese and he orders mini corndogs.  Go figure.  He has all kinds of jokes about the name.  Yes, insert a wifely eye roll here.  

These were brought down to the midwest from Canada by the Germans and the rest as they say, is history.  My recipe is just a take on the idea of the Runza.  I try not to use lots of cream soups and such but this recipe is just a total departure from my norm.  I am just going to close my eyes and type and when its over, I will pretend it never happened!  OK, OK, in all seriousness I must admit to enjoying this casserole regardless of its semi-home made nature which bring me to thoughts of Sandra Lee from the food network and then I almost have to delete the entire blog before it's even started.  

Runza Casserole

 (makes approx a 9x9 casserole)

1 lb ground beef

1 reg size back of shredded cabbage with carrots

1 med onion-chopped fine

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 8oz can of crescent rolls

8 slices of swiss cheese (may substitute cheese of choice)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Brown hamburger, and onion together.  Salt liberally, and pepper.  When onions are transluscent and meat is browned, drain and put back in skillet.  Add bag of shredded cabbage and carrots and let cook together for 5 minutes, stirring often.  Add cream of mushroom soup, turn off and set mixture aside.  Take half of your crescent rolls and lay in the bottom of greased or sprayed casserole dish.  You can use a rolling pin or just press them out to fit in the pan, make sure to seal up perforations.  Add mixture on top of pressed out crescent rolls.  Lay slices of cheese covering all of the mixture, then put remaining crescents on top.  I find it easier to use a rolling pin and roll out the top layer out and then lay it on top.

Bake @ 350 for approximately 35-45 minutes, until top crust is golden brown.  

So here it is, a casserole, a RUNZA casserole.  It even includes ONIONS!  Let me know if you try it, or if you changed the cheese up!

Your, "I'm headed to my happy place where casseroles don't exist" chefwannabe

Chris

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