Casserole Topped with Crescent Dough.

I stopped buying boxed meal products a long while ago, mainly because I discovered I can make it better, without all the preservatives, and add more fresh ingredients.  So there I was, going to make one of my own "hamburger helper" type meals, when I spied the canister of Pillsbury crescent rolls.  I like keeping dough products like biscuits, crescent rolls, even pie crusts in stock for those spur of the moment ideas. If I have to suddenly make dough, chances are I'll get frustrated and give up the idea altogether.

Instead of making a regular cheeseburger skillet meal, I prepped the ingredients and pulled out a 4-quart casserole dish.  I layered items in the dish in a manner I thought would work; and yes it did!  What I really liked was the perforations of the crescent rolls helped with serving sizes.  I used a pie server, since the servings were in the form of a wedge; each held together without making a mess.

Over the weekend I made a chicken pot pie and a baked turkey broccoli casserole; once again used the crescent roll dough to see how it compared to pie crust.  Good stuff!  Same old, same old?  Nah, play with your food and have fun experimenting.

Cheeseburger Crescent Bake

Ingredients:

2 lbs. lean ground beef

½ cup diced onions
½ cup diced red bell peppers
2 cups diced tomatoes
1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
½ tsp. ground black pepper
¼ tsp. salt
6 cups cooked, large elbow macaroni
1 package (8 oz.) shredded, sharp Cheddar cheese
1 can (8 oz.) crescent roll dough

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350F; spray a 4 quart casserole dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a large skillet, medium-high heat, brown beef part way; add onions and peppers; complete browning the beef.  Add tomatoes, Worcestershire, pepper and salt; mix thoroughly and remove from heat.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In a large bowl, combine cooked macaroni with beef mixture; spread out into casserole dish.  Spread Cheddar cheese overall; bake for 20 minutes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remove dish from oven; remove crescent roll dough from can and unroll over mixture in casserole dish.  Do not separate the dough into individual pieces.  Return dish to oven and bake additional 15 to 20 minutes; until dough browns.  Remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before cutting along the perforations of the dough.  Use pie server to lift up wedge serving.

  

 

Makes 8 servings.

Mary Cokenour