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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Dannyalcatraz" data-source="post: 8012842" data-attributes="member: 19675">I made a nifty casserole tonight: rotini pasta, Ground beef, Louisiana hot sausage, onions, portobello mushrooms garlic, spinach, 3 kinds of diced tomatoes (2 fresh, 1 canned), fresh parsley, oregano, chives, mozzarella, akkawi, crushed Ritz crackers and a tomato sauce from William Sonoma.The results were pretty good, but there were things that could be improved:.1) as commonly happens when I experiment, I under seasoned things a bit because most of the people in the house can’t handle a lot of spice.  So I erred on the light side.  Most of the seasoning came from the sausage and the sauce, but with a 1lb to 3lb sausage to ground beef ratio, it just wasn’t enough.  Still, it was tasty, and that’s the most important part.2) Akkawi is a lot like a firmer, stringer flavored mozzarella, but it doesn’t melt nearly as well.  Instead of becoming a gooey topping embedded with crunchy crackers, it formed cheesy-armored rectangles.  So next time, the akkawi will be shredded or diced instead of merely sliced.  In addition, I think the addition of a good Parmesan could add some nice complexity of flavor.3) it was VERY awkward to plate.  All those ingredients combined into a dense, deep casserole that tried to disintegrate as soon as it left the confines of the pan.  I could probably have better results using at least 1lb less ground beef.  I might also try to combine the sauce and some other ingredients in such a way as to actually bind  with the beef.  And using a lasagna-style pasta might help as well.</blockquote>

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