I was not expecting the end result when I was prepping this recipe. I went into this recipe thinking it would be jambalaya like, but it was not.
The ground beef and onion cook nicely together. The salt and paprika add a nice flavor that is a little different than just salt and pepper.
I almost added the celery and bell pepper to the onion when I was cooking it. It seemed odd to me to put them into the casserole raw.
For the rice, I used a full cup instead of the 2/3 cup. This is mostly because my daughter was helping me cook and measured it wrong. I didn’t notice right away, but didn’t see that it would make a huge difference.
I also did not cook the rice until it was completely done. I cooked it until it was about 95% done. I didn’t want it to get mushy while baking.
I’m glad I didn’t. The bell pepper cooked nicely and was firm soft once cooked. The celery was more firm, but not in a bad way. It added a little crunch that was not at all unpleasant.
I was also leery of the tomato soup being poured over top. To be honest, I did not think it looked all that appealing.
The end result was a delicious dinner that had all the flavor of a stuffed pepper. The rice was the perfect texture. While it was not mixed with the meat, the meat provided some flavor by soaking into the rice. The vegetables were lovely with that crunch level I described above.
Both my husband and my daughter went back for seconds. My husband put some into leftover containers as soon as he was done eating because he didn’t want to forget!
SPANISH CASSEROLE WITH RICE
2/3 Cup Rice
1 Cup Chopped Celery
1/4 Cup Chopped Bell Pepper
2 Tablespoons Butter
1 Cup Chopped Onion
1 Pound Ground Beef
3/4 Teaspoon Salt
1/4 Teaspoon Paprika
10 1/2 Ounces Condensed Tomato Soup
Cook rice in water. Melt butter in saucepan. Sauté onion until golden. Add ground beef and cook until browned. Season to taste. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place mixture in a greased casserole layered with rice, then meat, then celery and bell pepper. Repeat this process ending with a rice layer. Pour soup over all. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.
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