Italian casserole. A delicious oven dish with Italian influences. Think layers of potatoes, Italian spiced minced meat and vegetables in a tomato sauce and, of course, lots of delicious mozzarella. Yumm!
Italian mince casserole
This Italian casserole is another ultimate comfort food recipe, like many baked casseroles. The filling is an Italian spiced mince mixture and tomato sauce, so it is a little ‘wetter’ than other casseroles.
It is deliciously saucy and full of flavour, and the potato slices provide a wonderfully neutral base for this flavour bomb of a casserole.
If you want to expand you casserole repertoire I have some great suggestions for you. How about a chicken and pasta casserole, a spinach casserole or even this sauerkraut casserole? All easy recipes to whip up in your kitchen any day of the week!
Easy Italian casserole recipe
As a permanent member of the casserole fan club and a fan of Italian cuisine, you could really wake me up in the middle of the night for this meal. This dish is tasty, simple, nutritious and a real crowd-pleaser.
This oven dish will probably be eaten up in your house in no time! Especially the aromatic mince in tomato sauce with melted cheese is really delicious. In case you do have any left-overs, you can keep them in the fridge in an airtight container.
Italian cuisine
The filling of this Italian oven dish is inspired by Italian Bolognese sauce with typical herbs such as oregano, thyme and basil. This delicious filling creates a fantastic combination of Italian flavours and influences.
Are you a fan too? Then take a look at my Italian recipes for other tasty combinations from this cuisine! There’s lots to choose from and I’m curious which will be the next one you’ll be serving.
Make your own Italian casserole
Making this Italian casserole is anything but difficult. In fact, you can prepare most of it in advance, so getting dinner ready is even faster in the evening. Ideal, right? I recommend serving it with a nice fresh green salad. It’s an easy way to get some extra vegetables into your diet and a simple addition.
You start by making the sauce with the minced meat, Italian herbs and Italian vegetables in a large skillet. In the meantime you can cook the potato slices. After that you arrange everything in a casserole dish and top it all off with mozzarella cheese.
If you want you can switch up the minced beef for any other minced meat type, you can even add more or other vegetables. Fresh mushrooms would work very well in this dish. Want to give this dish a bit more of a kick, replace some of the mozzarella with parmesan cheese.
Ingredients
- 800 gram potato slices (pre-cooked)
- 1 onion (chopped)
- 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
- 500 gram minced beef
- 600 gram Italian vegetable mix
- 1 tsp oregano (dried)
- 1 tsp basil (dried)
- 1 tsp thyme (dried)
- 1 tsp paprika powder
- 300 ml passata
- 1 cube vegetable stock
- 100 gram mozzarella (grated)
- 200 gram mozzarella (ball)
- olive oil (salt and pepper)
Equipment
- Large pan
- Large frying pan
- Oven dish
INSTRUCTIONS (how to make this recipe):
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius / 356 Fahrenheit top and bottom heat.
- Pre-cook the potato slices for a further 10 minutes, then drain well.
- Heat a little olive oil in a large skillet over a medium heat. Brown the onion and garlic.
- Add the mince to the pan, season with salt and pepper and fry. Add the Italian vegetable mix, oregano, basil, thyme and paprika powder and fry with the meat.
- Add the passata to the mince mixture and crumble the stock cube over the pan. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for a few minutes.
- Brush an ovenproof dish with a little olive oil. Place half of the potato slices at the bottom of the oven dish. Then spoon the mince mixture over the top and finish with the remaining potato slices.
- Sprinkle the grated cheese on top. Cut the mozzarella ball into slices and place on top of the grated cheese.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Enjoy!
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