St. Patty's Day Redux

Who didn't make corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's Day?  Anyone?  OK, well, you over there on I Don't Do Silly Holidays Island and your friend in Corned Beef Is Gross City, you two can stop reading now.

Unless you made it for a party, I bet there were some leftovers.  I'm putting my corned beef leftovers into a cheese ball (!!) and into a Reuben flavored macaroni and cheese casserole.  The hubbie loves reubens, the kids love mac and cheese, I have leftover corned beef and thousand island dressing...winners all round! 

I especially like this type of M&C recipe because you don't have to make a roux-based cheese sauce to bathe the pasta in.  It winds up being less work on the front end and slightly more work on the back end as you have to cook the finished casserole longer on account of the eggs, but I think having less prepwork is an advantage here.

Reuben Mac and Cheese
Makes 8 servings

1 lb. medium shells (or 13 oz., whatever your box is)
2 cups shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup chopped corned beef
2 tbsp butter
3 eggs
1/2 cup thousand island dressing (store-bought or homemade)
7/8 cup milk (or 1 cup minus 2 tbsp)
2 cups rye bread crumbs (from 2-3 slices, whizzed in the food processor)
2 tbsp melted butter

Boil pasta according to package directions.  Boil 1 minute past "al dente".  Drain well.  Mix cheese and butter with pasta while still hot.  Stir in corned beef.

Whisk eggs, dressing and milk together.  Pour into pasta and stir well.  Put mixture in 3 quart casserole dish.

Stir together melted butter and bread crumbs.  Spread over top of the casserole.  Casserole can be frozen at this point or refrigerated. 

When ready to bake, heat oven to 350F and bake 45 minutes. Pin It