I adore Vintage Casseroles, what I don’t adore about them are the Vintage cooking methods or ingredients at times due to being too processed or too heavy in calories. I have always liked the thought behind Hunt’s 7 – Layer Casserole, however I wanted to make some much-needed modern changes to their recipe. My version contains Organic GMO-Free corn kernels, ground turkey, long grain rice, Vidalia onions,  diced tomatoes with chiles, yellow and red bell peppers, Vermont White Cheddar, crisp Hickory smoked bacon, and chopped parsley.

I did not use Hunt’s brand Tomatoes in my recipe for The 7+ Layer Casserole here today, not that I have anything against Hunt’s products, I was just looking for a little more pizzaz when I made my version of the Vintage 1950’s 7-Layer Casserole. I think by now we all know I love spicy foods and eat them often.

I have to tell you this was a fun recipe to modernize because the idea behind the Vintage 7 Layer Casserole  was fantastic, what did we change? The ground raw beef layer was changed to ground seasoned and cooked turkey, the uncooked rice was pre cooked using a dry cook method, Vidalia onions were cooked in with the ground turkey, red and yellow bell peppers instead of green, Vermont white Cheddar was added, the bacon was cooked crispy beforehand and fresh parsley to garnish.

Below you will find my Modernization of the 7 Layer Casserole with simple and easy to follow directions, the Vintage version has also been listed for you to compare or make if you wish.

The modernization of the 7 layer Casserole from circa 1950

• 1  cup of organic GMO free corn kernels, divided by 3
• 2 and  1/2 cups cooked long grain rice, divided by 2
• 1 and 1/2 pounds cooked ground turkey meat, seasoned to taste
• 1 large Vidalia onion sautéed , divided by 2
• 1 can organic diced tomatoes with chiles, divided by 3
• 1 medium yellow pepper diced, divided by 2
• 1 red pepper diced, divided by 2
• 8 ounces Vermont white cheddar, divided by 3
• 6 slices of hickory smoked crispy bacon, crumbled
• 1/8 cup of chopped parsley

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large oven safe casserole dish spray nonstick cooking spray.

Layer ingredients as follows 1/3 of corn kernels, 1/2 of cooked rice, 1/2 of ground turkey, 1/2 diced sautéed onions. 1/3 of white cheddar cheese,1/3 can of diced organic tomatoes with chiles, 1/2 diced yellow pepper, 1/2 diced red pepper, 1/3 of white cheddar, repeat all ingredient layers (You will have one extra layer of some items, place on top of  the casserole)

Top  with remaining White Vermont Cheddar and crumbles bacon.

Bake in 350 degree oven for about 15-2o minutes

Remove from heat, place on heat safe area.

Garnish with parsley if desired.

Serve immediately!

 

The Original Hunts &-Layer Casserole

Hunt’s is a name of a popular name brand of canned tomato products owned by ConAgra Foods, Inc. The Hunts company was founded in 1888, in Sebastopol, California, as the Hunt Bros. Fruit Packing Co. by Joseph and William Hunt.

In 1943, the Hunt’s company was taken over by Norton Simon’s Val Vita Food Products. The merged firm kept the Hunt’s brand name and and became Hunt Foods, Inc. The new managements focus would become canned tomato products primarily, particularly tomato sauce.

Afterwards Wesson Oil & Snowdrift Company merged with Hunt’s Foods, Inc. to become Hunt-Wesson Foods.Soon Hunt-Wesson would merge with the McCall Corporation and Canada Dry to form Norton Simon Inc. in 1968. Norton Simon was acquired by Esmark in 1983, which merged with Beatrice Foods the next year.

Then in 1985, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts would acquire Beatrice with the goal of selling off businesses. Hunt-Wesson, the company which included the Hunt’s brands, was sold in 1990 to agribusiness giant ConAgra Foods.

Circa the 1950’s, Hunts decided to get their kitchen testers in the Hunts Testing Kitchen and developed the Hunts 7-Layer Casserole Dish that would surly please American Husbands everywhere below you will find the original recipe pamphlet from the 1950’s and Hunt’s simple to follow directions.

Original Recipe for Hunts 7-Layer Casserole (Circa 1950’s)

• 1 cup rice, uncooked
• 1 cup canned whole kernel corn, drained
• Sprinkle with salt and pepper
• Pour one 8 ounce  can Hunt’s tomato Sauce and 1/2 can water over first two layers
• 1/2 cup each finely chopped onion and green pepper
• 3/4 lb. uncooked ground beef, seasoned with salt and pepper
• 8 ounce second can Hunt’s tomato Sauce   and 1/4 can water over all
• Cover meat with 4 strips bacon, cut in half

Directions
Start heating oven to moderate  350 degree oven and place these ingredients in layers in a 2-qt. baking dish with a tight-fitting lid:

Cover dish and bake at 350F. for 1 hour. Uncover and bake about 30 minutes longer.

Makes 4 – 6 servings.

DISCLAIMER : This is not a paid or sponsored post of Hunt’s brand, the pamphlet provided is one we own and have paid for. We are not endorsing or representing this brand in any manner, we are simply showing where the adaptations have been made to our own casserole. We do not take credit for creating the Hunts 7 Layer Casserole in any manner the recipe rights belong to rightful owner. Our recipe is an extreme adaptation of the Vintage 1950’s version, Hunts does not reserve the rights to our recipe or cooking method in any manner .

 

 

© Heidy L. McCallum and The McCallum’s Shamrock Patch, 2014. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material or photos without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Heidy L. McCallum and The McCallum’s Shamrock Patch with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. You may not copy and paste recipes to share on Social Platforms.

Filed under: Cassaroles, Dinner, Fall Menu, Poultry, Turkey, Uncategorized, Vintage Recipes Modernized, Winter Menu Tagged: 7+ Layer casserole, 7-layer vintage casserole, bacon, Bake, Beef, Black pepper, Cheese, diced tomatoes, diced tomatoes with chiles, gmo free corn, green bell peppers, green peppers, Heidy McCallum, Hickory smoked bacon, Hunt's tomatoes, Kosher salt, Olive oil, Onions, red bell peppers, red peppers, Rice, The McCallum's Shamrock Patch, Vermont cheddar, Vintage recipe

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