Swedabilly Kitchen

I was recently reminded that I hadn’t made something like this in a while, by one of Backyard Chef’s videos: Johnny Marzetti – One of the most important dishes in modern American cooking!. I felt like he seriously overstated that part, not being as personally familiar with American cooking in general, or some of the culinary traditions that this comes out of. Tomato meat sauces were hardly a new idea, especially on the Italian-American side of things–and with this type of dish, which started out from someone combining what they already had into a really tasty casserole. He is an excellent cook, with a good grounding in especially Northern English food where he’s from–and I would definitely recommend checking out his channel.

Anyway, growing up in one corner of the South, I didn’t hear this kind of meaty macaroni combination getting called Johnny Marzetti. That is a very Midwestern thing, and no wonder from the history of this version. The first time I encountered the name was in one spiral-bound Eastern Star community cookbook from the ’60s or ’70s that my mother picked up somewhere (and I wish I had now!). That one included multiple contributions of different Johnny Marzetti/Mazetti recipes, both baked like this one and “just” skillet versions like what get called “American goulash” some places.

If anything, we usually called this type of dish “beefaroni”, and ate a decent bit of it when I was growing up. The baked casserole variations make an excellent way of using up any leftover meaty spaghetti sauce you may have on hand. I am a pretty big fan of that sort of leftover casserole approach to this day.

But, this version sounded good enough to me that I had to make a batch, for the nostalgia value too. The basic ingredients required are very simple:

Not pictured yet: cheese, which was still in the fridge. The container of passata (basically just unseasoned tomato sauce, for Americans) is only there because I had half a thing of open passata left in the fridge. So, I used that instead of the tomato paste called for, and just cooked it down a little longer to take care of the extra liquid. It’s all good. The onion and pepper were prepped in advance, ready to go. We only had red sweet pepper (and Mr. Sweden prefers that), but I would have preferred green for this. The results were still delicious.

The only thing needed to make this gluten free as required, is using GF macaroni. Other short pasta shapes will work, and a lot of the time I will use fusilli/rotini or penne. But, just plain old elbow macaroni is classic here, so that’s what I also went with.

The Combination Salad

On that theme, the ingredients we had also suggested a take on my Mamaw’s “combination salad“, which she served pretty often while I was growing up. I think the idea there is that it’s like a combination of coleslaw and a green tossed salad. Apparently she wasn’t the only one to come up with that under the same name, judging by that other recipe I found. Only, her version always involved regular white cabbage, and her favorite salad dressing when I was a kid: a mixture of bottled Catalina or the similar orange French dressing with mayonnaise.

I was never a huge fan of that one, but I did already have a sauce similar to Russian dressing without the horseradish in the refrigerator, left over from eating with some fried chicken strips and oven potato wedges. Fill that out to a good consistency with a little more mayonnaise and the ketchup-type chili sauce (as called for in the Russian dressing, and I would use it for Catalina), and you’ve got something in the same general family of dressings which was perfect to help jazz up the cabbage salad.

If you’re in the US and would really like to run with the Marzetti theme, you could just go for one of the Marzetti’s bottled salad dressings. Apparently the same Teresa Marzetti who is usually credited with originating Johnny Marzetti out of their restaurant in Columbus, Ohio was also the one who started bottling and selling their salad dressings. The restaurant closed after she died in the early 1970s, but the salad dressing sideline has kept going. Teresa Marzetti really sounds like one determined business lady, maybe especially for one who started her first restaurant in 1896. Talk about your classic immigrant motivation and hustle! (Which I personally sort of fail to embody, btw.)

This hardly needs a recipe, and I was only working off vague recollections of what went into my Mamaw’s take on it. I just cut up a wedge of cabbage a lot like I would for slaw. To that, I added a sliced carrot, a handful of radishes also sliced, half a diced English-type cucumber, and part of a small onion minced. We didn’t have any fresh tomatoes and they’re not very good this time of year anyway. So, this also got part of the same diced red sweet pepper that went into the casserole. Use whatever vegetables you have and want, really.

Like I do with slaw now, I salted the veggies a little with some pepper added then too, mixed it all together, and let it wilt down for maybe half an hour while I worked on the casserole. Then, dress and adjust seasonings. I would also hold off on adding tomato until dressing time. Stash in the refrigerator, and let it marinate until you’re ready to eat. Yum!

Gluten Free Baked Johnny Marzetti

A classic casserole of macaroni baked with a ground beef tomato sauce and cheese. A perfect weeknight meal, with a salad.

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Prep Time 25 minutes mins

Cook Time 35 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr

Servings: 4 servings

Course: Casseroles, Main Course

Cuisine: American, Italian-American

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 tbsp olive oil plus extra for the baking dish
• 400-500 g ground meat of your choice (1 lb.)
• 1 medium to large onion chopped
• ½-1 large sweet pepper chopped
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 1 can chopped tomatoes (400g/14 oz.)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• OR around 200g/7 oz. tomato passata/tomato sauce simmer longer to cook off extra liquid
• ¾ salt to taste
• ⅓ tsp coarsely ground pepper to taste
• ½ tsp sugar to taste
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning blend plus more to sprinkle on top as desired
• ½ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 300 ml dry macaroni (1¼ cup, or ½ British pint)
• 2 cups grated cheese of choice (500ml – maybe 150-200g, to preference) divided into two parts
• OR 1½ c. plus 4 slices American cheese to layer in the middle for extra smoothness

Method

 

1. Fry the crumbled meat over medium heat in a deep skillet. Once it is partly cooked, add in the onion and sweet pepper.
   
2. Once the onions and pepper are soft, and the meat is starting to brown, add in the minced garlic and fry a few more minutes.
3. Start the oven preheating to 350℉ / 180℃.
4. When the garlic is smelling cooked but not browning, add in the canned tomatoes. Scrape up any browned meat bits, and deglaze the pan with the tomato juices.
5. Add in the other tomato products and the seasonings. Reduce the heat and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until your sauce gets fairly thick. Adjust the seasoning to taste.
6. While that's simmering, cook the macaroni to al dente in salted water, and drain.

   If you're using one of the gluten free pastas that turns mushy very easily, cook it just short of what you'd normally consider al dente. This Semper brand that I'm using here oddly refuses to overcook and fall apart, so I boiled it to a regular eating consistency.
7. Oil an 8×8/20×20 baking dish well, and set aside for the casserole.

Casserole Assembly

1. Stir the drained pasta into your saucy meat mixture.
   
2. Time to start layering. Spread around half the saucy macaroni mixture across the bottom of the oiled dish.
   
3. Then layer some of the cheese on top of that.

   The sliced American is a totally optional touch, but I thought it might add some extra smoothness in the middle. Nice thick slices of proper deli American would be much better, but cheese singles (actually sold as "burger cheese" here) are all I can get without making my own–which I will have to try one of these days! If you don't want this, just use extra grated cheese as usually called for.
   
4. Layer on the rest of the macaroni and meat, then top with the rest of the cheese.

   I opted to sprinkle a little of this local "Italian" herb seasoning over the top of the cheese. This is also very optional.
   
5. Ready for the oven!
   
6. Cover with foil tented up a bit away from the cheese, and bake for 30 minutes or until it's very hot and bubbly all the way through.
   
7. Remove the foil, and bake another 10 minutes or so to let the cheese brown a little.
   
8. Let rest out of the oven for 10-15 minutes before digging in. This will make 4 big pieces, or 6 smaller servings. Enjoy!

When colder days start settling in, some of the foods my mind starts going around to are always pork and the new season root vegetables.

Within my family, I (Gen X) did grow up a couple of generations down the line from fall hog butchering being a regular annual thing. It’s not an unusual pattern in the region, and across a lot of the not-so-urban US. My Nana and Grandaddy still lived in the country, but they were no longer raising any animals by the time I came along. When I was a kid, though, they would still buy a whole hog every year from some friends who were actively farming. So, I got to take part in some of that tradition, and eat the proceeds! One of the things that needs to be eaten up pretty quickly is bonier cuts which weren’t traditionally as easy to preserve.

But, even not growing up with it directly herself? Every year, one of the things my mom had to fix was a big batch of slow simmered neckbones and/or ribs with turnips. The rich broth was hard to beat. We also usually got dishes of them cooked with pinto beans, and sauerkraut.

There was enough German immigration way back into our part of Appalachia, down the existing Native trade route which I-81 would follow later on, that even if some names got pretty mangled over time? They brought in some really good food, for a decent bit of regional culinary influence. The versions that I grew up on were not too far from this Pennsylvania Dutch Pork And Turnips.

But, this would also seem to be another of those cases of Northern European variations on a theme: seasonal pig parts that need used up quickly, at the same time that root crops are really coming in. Back home, there was already plenty of influence from Scotland and Ireland in particular, which brought the turnips and the hogs. And, here in Sweden, where root vegetables have long been a major staple? You can easily find recipes like this Gammaldags köttsoppa (“Old-Timey Meat Soup”)–though, this particular version is made with beef and root veggies–or this Kålgryta med revbensspjäll (“Cabbage Stew with Ribs”), which obviously uses leafy cabbage instead and sounds delicious.

The thicker cut, meatier revbensspjäll was what I was originally wanting to use here. But, the store was out when I went to get it. So, I decided to make do with a combo of spareribs and the remaing piece of bone-in fläskkarré that we had stashed in the freezer after those oven barbecue pork chops.

I also didn’t see white turnips that day, disappointingly–though they do seem easier to find locally than around London. So, we’re getting rutabaga/swede/kålrot (“cabbage root”), which will do.

The ingredients here are pretty simple.

The jar in the background is homemade miso, beside some of the Swedish yellow peas it was made from for a more local touch. This was the first time I cooked with my inaugural attempt at miso, and it went well. The next batch of miso I put together, I will post. For seasonings here, I drew some inspiration from Tonjiru, a delicious and hearty Japanese pork and vegetable soup flavored with miso, which tends to include root vegetables common there.

We’re keeping it pretty simple here. Besides a smaller jar of miso that I scopped out for the fridge, we’ve got some bay leaves, pepper, a piece of kombu seaweed for richer umami flavor in the broth, and some dried sliced ginger because I was out of fresh.

We’re going fairly subtle here. The meat and veggies are going to be the major players.

You can cook this entirely on the stovetop, but it will take at least a couple of hours to get the meat falling-off-the-bones tender before the veggies go in. A Crock Pot would also work well. Here, I opted to use the pressure cooker instead, for a much shorter cooking time.

Pork and Root Vegetable Stew with Miso (Instant Pot)

A warming stew made in the pressure cooker, featuring a mix of seasonal root vegetables and pork, in a rich broth with a Japanese-inspired seasoning flair.

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 15 minutes mins

Broth Cooking Time 25 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 10 minutes mins

Servings: 6 servings

Course: Main Course, One Dish, Stews

Cuisine: Appalachian, Fusion, Japanese-inspired, Northern European

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

The Pork Broth (to make 2L)

• 750 g bony long-cooking cuts of pork (1.5 lbs.) like country style ribs, revbensspjäll, the bone end of a shoulder cut, or a mix of ribs and neckbones
• 1 tbsp neutral oil of choice to sear
• 2 L water
• 1 tsp table salt

Stew Vegetables

• 2 medium-large onions quartered
• 6 cloves garlic lightly smashed with flat of knife to remove the skin
• 3 medium carrots
• 3-4 large firm-cooking potatoes or equivalent
• 1 rutabaga / kålrot / swede
• OR 3-4 large turnips or equivalent in smaller ones
• 1 tbsp neutral oil of choice (optional) for frying onion and garlic

Stew Seasonings

• 1 large slice ginger or 2-3 smaller
• 1-2 bay leaves
• ¼ tsp coarsely ground pepper
• 1 piece dried kombu kelp (2-3 inch or 5-7cm length, or one of the knots as shown here)
• 1.5 tsp gluten free soy sauce
• 3-4 tbsp light colored miso, divided to taste, for saltiness
• extra pepper to serve

Method

 

1. Making The Rich Pork Broth
2. This will make 2L of broth, where we will be using half of that here.

   If you only want enough broth for this pot of stew, reduce the quantities accordingly.
3. Set the pressure cooker to "Brown/Saute Low", and add the tablespoon of oil.

   Sear the meat on both sides. Tongs are very handy to move it around.
   
4. Sear in batches if you need to, and keep aside until it's all done.
   
5. When that's done, return it to the pot and add the water and salt.
   
6. Pressure cook on "Manual – High" for 25 minutes.

   This is a good time to prep the vegetables.

   When the meat finishes, let the pot sit for 15 minutes before touching the valve.
7. Pull the meat out and set it aside to cool enough to pull the bones out. I pulled them loose with the tongs while it was still very hot.
   
8. Optional: Return the bones to the broth pot, and pressure cook for another 15 minutes. Let the pressure natural release for 10-15 minutes again before opening the valve.
   
9. Pour the broth through a strainer into another pot, and clean the pressure cooker's inner pot.
   
10. The finished broth is ready. I'm saving half of it to use later, as detailed in the earlier chicken broth recipe.
    
11. My reserved broth for later.
    

Vegetable Prep

1. Wash, peel as desired (these potatoes didn't need it), and cut the vegetables into fairly large chunks which should take roughly the same cooking time. I went for bigger than bite-sized, which is pretty traditional in similar dishes where I'm from.
   
2. Quarter the onions, or cut them into sixths if they're bigger. Lightly smash the garlic cloves with the flat of a knife, to slip the skins off.

Cooking The Stew

1. Heat another tablespoon of oil in the pressure cooker on "Brown/Saute". Mine heats very hot on high, so again I used the low setting.

   Add the onions and garlic. Stir fry them around for a few minutes, until they just start getting some color for the extra flavor.
   
2. Add in the rest of the chunked vegetables and the stew seasonings.
   
3. Take part of your broth into a smaller pan or bowl, and rub 2-3 tablespoons of miso into it through a strainer.

   Use enough now to give a slightly salty taste for cooking the vegetables. We are depending on the miso for much of the salt in this dish, but more will go in later for the more complex flavor. (So, keep the semall pan and strainer to the side to use again.)

   How much you need will depend a lot on the miso you're using and your personal taste. Yuto Omura goes into more detail about good miso choices for a soup similar to this here.
   
4. Cover with all the (1L or quart) of broth. If it doesn't quite reach the top of your vegetables, add a little extra water as required.
   
5. Pressure cook on "Manual – High" for 10 minutes.

   Let the pressure natural release for 15-20 minutes again before opening the valve.
6. Add the bite-sized chunks of reserved meat into the stew, and let simmer for a few minutes.
   
7. Taste the broth for seasoning, and carefully pour some broth off to add more miso to adjust the flavor.
   
8. Gently stir up from the bottom a bit as you serve, because the miso particles tend to sink to the bottom of the pot.

   Grind more pepper over the top of your bowl as desired.

   Serve with some bread if you like, and enjoy! This was substantial enough that we didn't need anything else.
   

This is the evolution of one of my old favorites, which became a standby during my vegan college days back in the ’90s–when I developed a taste for more Middle Eastern foods in general. Especially in the summer, I used to like to make a big batch once a week or so for the fridge, to casually eat on for as long as it lasted.

This started out as a more straightforward take on tabbouli, using bulgur wheat. Obviously that was out once the celiac was finally recognized. For years after that, I substituted brown rice or quinoa–both of which are fine options here. Now buckwheat is easier to find where I live, and it works extremely well for a salad like this. At some point along the way, I started adding in chickpeas or other cooked beans like I did here. Firmer cooked butter beans/large white beans or cannellini (like from a can) are another great choice. If you prefer all grain, use more of that instead and it will be delicious.

This definitely isn’t summer anymore in this hemisphere, but I found myself with more fresh parsley and mint than I had other uses for right now, and also a spare cucumber and some cherry tomatoes that needed to be used ASAP. Perfect time for some not-quite-tabbouli anyway!

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Tabbouli-inspired Chickpea and Buckwheat Salad

A flexible gluten free riff on tabbouli, made using wholegrain buckwheat with chickpeas for the extra variety and nutrition. Excellent for a light lunch especially in hot weather, served with some olives and feta-type cheese.

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Marination Time12 hours hrs

Total Time12 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course: Light Meals, Salad

Cuisine: Middle Eastern inspired, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword: Beans, Buckwheat, Chickpeas, Gluten free, Salads

Yield: 6 servings

Materials

• 2 cups cooked toasted whole buckwheat (approximate) 100g dry grain cooked in salted water
• OR cooked brown rice/quinoa
• 1 can cooked chickpeas, drained or the equivalent, cooked in salted water
• OR beans of your choice

Vegetables

• ½-1 small onion finely chopped, to preference
• ½-1 sweet pepper I used yellow, but any color will do
• 1 large green onion chopped (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic pressed or finely minced
• ¾-1 English cucumber chopped, or the equivalent in other varieties
• 1 large tomato chopped
• OR cherry tomatoes quartered
• 1 smallish bunch flat-leaf parsley chopped
• 1 smallish bunch fresh mint leaves chopped

To Dress

• juice of one lemon to taste
• 4 tbsp olive oil or mix of olive and a neutral oil of choice
• salt to taste
• coarsely ground pepper to taste
• (optional) Vegeta or similar seasoning To taste, for the hint of salty umami. I think I used about ⅓ teaspoon in this batch.

Instructions

• Cook the buckwheat in salted water per package directions, and leave aside to cool and drain further as needed.

  I used this pre-toasted Eastern European brand sold packaged 100g boil-in-bag pouches. Normally I would remove from the pouch to cook in another dish, but we just want plain boiled buckwheat here. I didn't measure the volume before cooking, but I would estimate that ⅔ cup of dry grain (or just under 200ml) would be close enough.

  If you can only find the lighter-colored grain which hasn't already been toasted, you can do that yourself in a dry frying pan over medium heat for a few minutes until it starts darkening and smells toasty. This isn't absolutely necessary, but it adds a nice flavor and helps the grain cook up more separately.

  This will also be good made with brown rice or quinoa instead of the buckwheat. I used to routinely use brown rice.
  
• Assemble your ingredients, and start prepping the vegetables and herbs. Preferably reserve the cucumber and tomato until sooner before serving. You will want to let the other ingredients marinate together for at least overnight, for best flavor.

  Normally I would just use a whole large cucumber, but both ends on this one had gone a little weird. It's a very flexible salad. You can add other vegetables as desired. I like grated carrot, but didn't feel like it this time. It got half that yellow pepper for color and flavor variation instead.

  Throw things into your mixing bowl as they're ready.
  
• A better idea of how much chopped mint (to the right) and parsley went into this batch. Most authentically made tabbouli uses a higher proportion of parsley, but I prefer it more as an accent than a main component of the salad. You can use however much you prefer.
  
• When it's assembled except for the tomato and cucumber, it's time to pour the dressing ingredients over the salad. Stir well, and let it marinate well covered at least overnight in the fridge.
• An hour or so before I was planning to serve it, it's time to add the tomato and cucumber. I also had dressing ingredients/seasonings ready again, to adjust to taste as necessary.

  Optional but nice: Let the chopped cucumber sit salted with around ⅓ tsp. table salt for 20-30 minutes to draw out some of the excess liquid, then drain before adding. This will keep the salad from getting as watery as it sits.
  
• Do a final seasoning adjustment, and enjoy!

  Anything that's left will store well for several days in the refrigerator.