jason kottke thinks he knows how to make tator tot hot dish, and he’s sort of right, but his recipe could use some improvement. (among other things, he puts the ingredients upside down in the pan!) I may no longer live in ‘minneap,’ but I do remember the recipe. It goes something like this:

Ingredients:

• 1 package frozen tator tots
• 1 lb spicy Italian sausage (you can use ground beef, but why would you?)
• 1 can french cut green beans
• 1 can corn
• 1 lb cheddar, grated
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cans of your favorite cream-of-[something] soup. I usually opt for one mushroom and the other of celery, but it can’t make a big difference.
• 1 can milk, swished in above soup cans

Battle Strategy:
Preheat oven to 350°F. Brown the meat with the onion in a skillet. I never pour off the oil, which makes it taste even better. Keep in mind this dish is supposed to help you survive through the cold winter months. It needs to be nourishing. Add the corn, green beans, soup-goo, and milk to the skillet, and mix together. Pour into 9×13″ baking pan. Arrange tator tots on top. I’m German, so I tend to keep the arrangement disgustingly regular, but feel free to experiment. Bake for 40 minutes or until tots have become golden brown to liking. Cover with cheese, and bake another 20.

Additional Notes:
You can’t screw this dish up. The recipe is very forgiving, and the dish is very resilient. Don’t worry about 1 vs 2 cans soup, 1 vs 2 cans veggies, etc. Once you get that pan in the oven, drink some beer and chillax with your friends, who you should have invited over to mitigate the risk of a heart attack.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 11th, 2007 at 6:32 pm and is filed under General, Recipies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.