TALLERINA

Posted by Lori:
This is one of my mother-in-law's recipe, but also one of my kids' very favorites. Years ago when I worked part-time, she babysat them and the oldest two would help her cook. This was a regular dish they would help her prepare. One of my sons still wants to help when I make it now.

I've seen this recipe in other cookbooks with different names, such as "Tallerilla" and "Tallyrila". Wonder where the name came from? Maybe someone's last name...

TALLERINA

1 pound ground beef
1 tsp. chili powder
1 small jar chopped olives and juice (I mince them even smaller in the food processor to "hide" them for my youngest two children!)
1 can whole kernel corn and juice
1 - 1 pound pkg. egg noodles
1 can diced tomatoes and juice
1 pound cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. salt

Brown meat and green pepper in large skillet. Season with chili powder, salt, and pepper. While this cooks, cook noodles until tender and drain. Add noodles to meat mixture. Add diced tomatoes and juice, corn, and olives and juice. Mix all together and pour into large casserole dish. Cover with shredded cheese.

This is always served with crackers - according to my children.  That's what their Grammy always did....so that's what I do.  It really doesn't need anything anything else because it has all of the food groups, but a salad would be good to serve with it, if you just "had" to have something!

A few years ago, I added a lot of beef broth and made it into a soup. It was really good, as well.  In fact, I have a theory about casseroles.  If you chill them, most could be a salad (maybe not with hamburger meat.) and if you water them down, they're a soup!  Three meals from one basic recipe, right?!!  Maybe so!