Runza Casserole
By: Ann
Published: Monday, February 8, 2010 - 2:35pm

Ingredients




2 pounds turkey meat (or hamburger or bison/buffalo)
1/2 inch can organic cream of mushroom soup (I specify organic here because the contents  the regular cans need s
1/4 cup beef broth
1 medium cabbage, finely chopped, hard core removed
1 pint white or baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 package frozen puff pastry
1 clove garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped (I like to use sweet yellow or Vidalia)
6 slices swiss cheese, roughly 6oz
tablespoon butter for cooking cabbage, a few  more or less
1/2 teaspoon salt, more or less to taste

Preparation

1 Remove puff pastry from freezer and set out to thaw according to package instructions 2 Cook cabbage and onion on stove top in large pan with butter over medium-high heat, roughly 15 minutes or until cabbage starts to wilt and become see-through.  Add garlic and continue cooking until cabbage is completely soft and cooked through 3 Add cream of mushroom soup, set cabbage mixture aside in a separate bowl 4 In the same pan over medium-high heat, cook mushrooms and beef broth until mushrooms are tender, salt to taste, set aside in a separate bowl 5 Pre-heat oven to 375, grease 13×9x2″ pan 6 In the same stove top pan over medium-high heat, cook turkey until done, add salt 7 On a floured surface, roll out one sheet of puff pastry until it covers the bottom of the 13×9x2″ pan, lay it on the bottom of the pan 8 Spread hamburger evenly on top of puff pastry sheet 9 Layer with cabbage mixture 10 Then add mushrooms 11 Layer evenly with cheese 12 Roll out the other pastry and set on top 13 With a knife, make a few slits in the pastry to allow air to escape 14 Bake roughly 25 minutes or until brown.  All ovens are different and puff pastry is testy, so make sure to check top of pastry while cooking because it may burn

About


The Nebraska classic, if you’ve been here (or surrounding states), then you should know what a Runza is, and then you’ve most likely experienced peer pressure to have one!  Unless you’re a vegetarian or have celiac disease, then I sure hope you’ve tried one.  
What is a Runza?  It’s basically a hamburger, cabbage and onion casserole encased in some great homemade bread-either plain, with cheese or swiss cheese and mushrooms.  It’s sort of a man’s man kind of yummy hot encased beef sandwich or alternatively the hangover cure.  If Zane Lamprey came to town I’d take him to Runza the next day!  Runzas are the only food I missed from home the first few times I traveled far away.  I sort of grew out of my Runza cravings after college, but every so often I have to have one.  My personal favorite is Swiss Cheese Mushroom…NO KETCHUP!  My husband used to eat the cheese ones with ketchup which drove me nuts because it tastes like meatloaf when you add ketchup (not a meatloaf fan unless it’s fancy…sorry).  Anyway, I got a Runza bake recipe from some friends that love this particular recipe….but then I changed it.  I’ll give you both recipes, so you’re aware.  And if you want some actual Runza copycat recipes, you can just google it and plenty show up.  I felt like doing a slightly healthier and difficult version of a casserole but with puff pastry.  I’m trying to get over my recent puff pastry obsession since it’s not so healthy, but it continues…