Hamburger Parmesan

This is one of those cases where I should have thought of this sooner. However, I’m sure the idea is not original and I must’ve seen it somewhere before so no credit whatsoever is taken for this.

This hamburger Parmesan is one of those meals where there’s little work involved. Since the only “work” would be if you wanted the ground beef patties to have a bit more oomph than just plain shaped burgers. Of course that’s ok too and if you happen to have any pre-made burgers in the freezer. Then there’s essentially no work to this.

Whatever way you look at it, this is a meal meant for when you’re hungry but don’t want to cook. The surprise is it’s delicious and comforting.

Beef Patties

As I said before, plain beef patties will do just nicely if you’re not inclined to dress this casserole up much or just lack the time.

However, I went that extra step here to make the meat a bit more flavorful–mainly I had the time. I just think it improves the taste tremendously and suggest that if time permits, you take that extra step too. In fact, the meat mixture can be prepared ahead and kept in the fridge.

The Sauce

What makes this hamburger Parmesan so quick and easy is the store-bought sauce. This is another ingredient where I have at least one jar in the pantry. Usually it’s a premium brand that’s more than just the traditional marinara or meat sauce.

If you use a variety that’s got veggies or is chunky, that will improve the taste as well. Same thing goes for any meat or cheese-flavored sauces.

In the event that you only have marinara or a plain standard jar of sauce, it can be dressed up too with more onion, mushrooms or anything you’d put in your own sauce.

The Recipe

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Hamburger Parmesan

Purest form of comfort food.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Course: Main, Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: 30 minute Italian meals, fancy hamburger caseroles, hamburger parmesan

Servings: 6

Calories: 615kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 2 lbs lean ground beef
• 1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley or 2 tbs dehydrated
• 1 1/2 tsp basil
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/4 cup onions finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic finely minced
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• 28 oz jar pasta sauce
• 2 tbs olive oil
• 1 cup regular plain breadcrumbs

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350F/180C. Lightly spray a large baking dish (3-4Q/L) with non-stick spray.
• Mix the ground beef, fresh breadcrumbs, Parmesan, parsley, basil, oregano, onion, garlic, eggs, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Combine well. Divide into 6 equal portions and shape into patties.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
• Dredge patties in the regular dry breadcrumbs (I find this step stops a lot of shrinkage).
• Brown patties on both sides then place in the prepared baking dish.
• Pour sauce over the patties. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.
• Remove foil and spread the shredded cheese over the patties. Return to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes--until cheese is melted.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 615kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 52g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 11g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 181mg | Sodium: 2024mg | Potassium: 1138mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 1160IU | Vitamin C: 13mg | Calcium: 369mg | Iron: 8mg

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Pasta shells stuffed with cheese-packed savory ground beef is the ultimate comfort dinner and it’s easy to make too!

Meat Stuffed Shells Are Easy And Tasty

Stuffed shells are always a crowd pleaser. They make a great buffet food at parties too.

It’s the one Italian-style dinner I thoroughly enjoy and I make these often. You can also fill them with cheese and here’s the Cheese Shells I make.

However, the cheese variety are not as easy to make as the meat stuffed shells.  The shells stuffed with meat filling are actually very quick and easy to make.

Cheese Lovers Rejoice

This meat filling is packed with mozzarella cheese and any cheese lover will sure to be pleased!

I include some Parmesan or Romano in the meat mixture too. I prefer the Romano because it’s flavor is stronger so it gives the filling a bolder flavor than the milder Paremesan imparts.

For an even bolder cheese flavor, you could also add some grated Asiago. I have never tried that, but I absolutely love Asiago cheese so I just know this would be outstanding.

When It Comes To Sauce…

These shells are one dish where I make my own sauce. Of course, you can opt to make your favorite sauce or use a high-quality sauce from the jar if you prefer.

My Quick Chunky Tomato Sauce goes perfectly with these stuffed shells. This sauce has a great texture that pairs well here. It also comes together quickly–in 15 minutes! It would be good to make double the amount of the sauce if you have family members who like loads of sauce on their pasta. But even if you don’t, that sauce stores well because it’s a meat-free sauce and that makes it suitable to serve to vegans (if you do that is). I often have it on plain spaghetti as a hurry-up meal when I don’t feel like fussing.

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Meat & Cheese Stuffed Shells

Pasta shells stuffed with cheese-packed savory ground beef is the ultimate comfort dinner and it’s easy to make too!

Prep Time25 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 40 minutes mins

Course: beef, Comfort Foods, Everyday Meals, pasta

Cuisine: American

Keyword: meat and cheese, stuffed shells

Servings: 6 -8

Calories: 537kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 24 large shells cooked per package directions, cooled
• 1 recipe Quick Chunky Tomato Sauce see NOTES

FILLING

• 1 1/2 lb lean ground beef
• 8 oz mozzarella diced small (1/4-inch dice)
• 3/4 cups plain breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan -OR- Romano cheese
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 cloves garlic minced
• 2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 4 tbsp chopped fresh parsley -OR- 2 tbs dried parsley
• 2 tbsp milk
• Extra parmesan cheese for topping
• 1/2-1 cup shredded mozzarella for topping

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Pour about 1/4 cup of the sauce in the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
• Mix all filling ingredients in a large bowl. Divide into 24 equal portions (should be about the size of a ping pong ball)
• Stuff the shells tightly with the portions of meat filling. Place the filled shells in the prepared pan.
• Top with remaining sauce, then sprinkle the extra parmesan cheese and shredded mozzarella on top.
• Cover with foil and bake for 60-75 minutes.

Notes

A large jar of prepared chunky pasta sauce may be substituted.
If you make my sauce recipe, add an 8 oz can of tomato sauce, if desired, to extend sauce quantity.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 537kcal | Carbohydrates: 37g | Protein: 46g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 221mg | Sodium: 1357mg | Potassium: 598mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 738IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 353mg | Iron: 5mg

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If you find boneless pork chops a bit dry, try this Lombardy-style way to make them. Juicy every time and no waste!

I love pork chops, however, I’m not especially fond of the center cut boneless variety since they seem to always come out dry no matter how you prepare them.

Of course since they were on sale for a ridiculous price last week, I just had to buy them. But I had to figure out how to do them so they required the least amount of cooking and didn’t get dried out.

So I decided to see if I could make them up like Chicken Lombardy since the boneless skinless chicken was quite succulent in that recipe.

Juicy tender chops that are not dry!

Since I wanted the minimum amount of cooking with the pork, I sliced my thicker chops in half lengthwise so that they were approximately 1/4-inch thick and the browning would essentially cook them. But if you prefer to buy the thin-sliced chops, that eliminates that step.

This recipe did the trick. These pork chops were juicy and tender and a pleasure to eat!

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Boneless Pork Chops Lombardy Style

If you find boneless pork chops a bit dry, try this Lombardy-style way to make them. Juicy every time and no waste!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time50 minutes mins

Course: Everyday Meals, Pork

Cuisine: American

Keyword: pork chops

Servings: 6 -8

Calories: 405kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 6-8 thin cut boneless center cut pork chops*
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/4 cup butter divided
• 8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
• 1 cup dry red or white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken stock
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 3/4 cup shredded mozzarella
• 2 green onions chopped

Instructions

• *Thicker chops may be cut in half lengthwise to about 1/4-inch thickness.
• Heat 2 tbs of the butter in a large skillet. Saute the mushrooms until they begin to caramelize; about 5 minutes.
• Remove mushrooms and set aside.
• Lightly grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish.
• Melt 1 tbs of the butter in the same skillet.
• Dredge pork chops in flour.
• Brown half of the pork chops well on both sides.
• Add the remaining 1 tbs butter and brown remaining chops.
• Place chops in prepared baking dish. Distribute mushrooms over the top.
• In the same pan you browned the chops in, add the wine and stock, scraping up all the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste.
• Bring wine/stock mixture to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes
• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
• Pour wine/stock mixture over the chops and mushrooms.
• Mix the shredded cheese with the green onions and distribute evenly across chops and mushrooms.
• Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Nutrition

Serving: 1person | Calories: 405kcal | Carbohydrates: 12g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 122mg | Sodium: 251mg | Potassium: 674mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 371IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 85mg | Iron: 2mg

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I had shredded asiago left over from another meal, so I used it in here instead of my usual Romano cheese addition for Italian-style meatballs.

Delicious Asiago meatballs

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Meatball Subs

The secret to these very tasty and creamy meatballs is the asiago cheese and soft breadcrumbs. I had shredded asiago left over from another meal, so I used it in here instead of my usual Romano cheese addition for Italian-style meatballs.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time15 minutes mins

Course: Comfort Foods, Dinner, Everyday Meals, lunch

Cuisine: American

Keyword: beef meatballs, subs

Servings: 20

Calories: 70kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef I used 93%
• 2 eggs
• 2-3 tbsp grated asiago cheese
• 2 tsp. dehydrated onion or 1 tbs chopped fresh chop it fine
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 cup or so fresh soft breadcrumbs
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• pinch of basil
• 1 tbsp olive oil for frying

Instructions

• Place all ingredients, except olive oil, in a medium bowl and mix well. Meat mixture will be pretty soft.
• Form into meatballs about the size of a walnut. You should get approximately 20 meatballs.
• Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Brown meatballs on all sides. Reduce heat, cover and cook 10 minutes, or until internal temperature is 160 degrees.

Notes

Preparing the sandwiches

4 sub rolls, about 6-inches long
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs parmesan or romano cheese
1 tsp dehydrated parsley
1 cup pasta sauce, like a marinara (if you like it really saucy, use more sauce)
1 cup shredded mozzarella
20 meatballs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13-inch pan with non-stick spray.

Place rolls in prepared pan with slits facing upward (if you cut the rolls yourself, only cut 3/4 of the way through). Place 5 meatballs in each roll then 1/4 cup pasta sauce over the meatballs in each roll. Brush the exposed parts of the rolls with olive oil and sprinkle with the parsley and cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes. Top each roll with 1/4 cup of the shredded mozzarella (yes, you can add more cheese--MUCH more if you want!!!). Return to oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Serves 4

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 70kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 31mg | Sodium: 185mg | Potassium: 107mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 28IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 22mg | Iron: 1mg

Meatball Subs

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