food international: Sour Cream Noodle Bake

Raise your hand if you love recipes with the word “Bake” in the title.

This is a classic old recipe shared with my mom by her friend Betty Daley. I always loved it growing up, but the first time I made it for my own household years ago, it was met with mixed reviews. The original recipe calls for quite a bit of sour cream, and since my nuclear family is a little sensitive to large amounts of the stuff, I’ve adapted it through the years to suit the picky palates of the people I live with.

Picky palates of the people. Thursday morning alliteration for you.

You’ll need ground chuck.

Okay, fine. Any ground beef will do.

But ground chuck is best. Flavor to the max. Like, totally.

You’ll need tomato sauce. Just plain ol’ pure and (relatively) holy tomato sauce.

You’ll need sour cream…

Cottage cheese…

Green onions…

 

And grated sharp cheddar.

Please grate your own. Please?

You’ll also need egg noodles. It’s hard to make Sour Cream Noodle Bake without the noodles!

Oh, and I like No Yolks. This is not a paid advertisement. No Yolks doesn’t know me. I just like the firm, wonderful texture of No Yolks.

No Yolks No Yolks No Yolks.

Sorry.

Begin by browning the meat in a large skillet.

Drain off the excess artery-clogging material…

 

Then pour in the tomato sauce.

 

Stir it together…

 

Then throw in some salt…

 

And plenty of freshly ground black pepper.

And that’s it for the seasoning, and what I actually love about this dish. But you can certainly add in some Italian seasoning or red pepper flakes to give it a little kick.

 

Let the meat sauce simmer while you cook the egg noodles.

Cook them until just al dente, then drain and set aside.

 

In a separate bowl, add the sour cream…

And the cottage cheese.

Mix this together…

Then add in some freshly ground black pepper.

Finally, slice up the green onions.

Throw the sour cream/cottage cheese mixture in with the noodles…

 

And stir it together.

Throw in the green onions…

 

And stir till combined. (Note: The green onions can quickly overpower, so go easy at first, adding as little as 1/4 a cup.) It is now that I will refrain from admitting that I snarfed down approximately four monstrous spoonfuls of the noodles at this point. Delicious on their own!

 

To assemble, add half the noodle mixture to a baking dish.

Note: Some other versions of Sour Cream Noodle Bake call for stirring the noodle mixture and the meat mixture together in one big batch, but I prefer the layered approach. Either way is yummy, though—go forth and do what you’d like!

Top the noodles with half the meat mixture…

Then sprinkle on half the cheese.

Repeat with the rest of the noodles, the rest of the meat…

And the rest of the cheese.

Bake it in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes—just long enough for the cheese to melt.

 

Oh, yum.

As you can see, I already have my hunk of bread ready.

 

I always have my hunk of bread ready.

 

This really is yummy, guys, and can be made ahead of time and refrigerated, unbaked, until you’re ready to pop it in the oven. Delicious, easy weeknight grub.

Enjoy!

Recipe

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

Prep Time:

10 Minutes

Difficulty:

Easy

Cook Time:

20 Minutes

Servings:

8 Servings

Ingredients

• 1-1/4 pound Ground Chuck
• 1 can 15-ounces Tomato Sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 8 ounces, weight Egg Noodles
• 1/2 cup Sour Cream
• 1-1/4 cup Small Curd Cottage Cheese
• 1/2 cup Sliced Green Onions (less To Taste)
• 1 cup Grated Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Brown ground chuck in a large skillet. Drain fat, then add tomato sauce. 1/2 teaspoon salt and plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Stir, then simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.

Cook egg noodles until al dente. Drain and set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine sour cream and cottage cheese. Add plenty of freshly ground black pepper. Add to noodles and stir. Add green onions and stir.

To assemble, add half of the noodles to a baking dish. Top with half the meat mixture, then sprinkle on half the grated cheddar. Repeat with noodles, meat, then a final layer of cheese. Bake for 20 minutes, or until all cheese is melted.

Serve with crusty French bread.