Reuben Casserole

WARNING!

This is not a diet friendly meal.

Meat + crescent rolls + cheese + dressing = many many calories

So naturally, this is my husband's favorite meal.


I make this meal as a special occasion dish. For instance, when he comes back from a three week underway and just wants to eat everything. And we spend an entire weekend binge watching Dexter and only moving to walk the dog and heat up leftovers.

Since this dish is a casserole, it is not a looker. I think lasagna is the only casserole that comes out looking gorgeous. All other casseroles don't look like much until you take that first bite. Then you can overlook its ugliness.

Assemble your ingredients!

Preheat oven to 375°F and grease a 13" x 11" baking dish.

Unroll one of the crescent roll tubes and press into the baking dish. Try to seal the perforations as best as you can.

(Ugly pale crescent dough)

Bake for 8-10 minutes until you get a lovely golden brown color.

(Like so)

While the crescent sheet is baking, combine the sauerkraut and the Thousand Island dressing in a small bowl.

When the crescent sheet comes out of the oven layer with half of the Swiss cheese. Then layer all of the corned beef.

Side note: We're originally from New Jersey, but we're in Virginia right now. Virginia is the place where pizza and Chinese food come to die. Every "New York style" pizza place has crust the thickness of a Chicago pizza. Don't even get me started on the sauce! The Chinese places make crab rangoon with provolone. Sacrilege! We literally eat pizza and Chinese the whole time we visit our family. So we were ecstatic when we found a delicatessen that was owned by guys from New Jersey. We were finally able to get some decent corned beef without making it at home (I do that frequently anyway, but sometimes you need corned beef on short notice). They also have fantastic pastrami. I'm drooling right now. So long story short: try to find a place owned by people from the New York/ New Jersey area to buy your corned beef. They know what they're doing. I promise.

(Yum)

Dollop the sauerkraut and dressing mixture over the corned beef. Layer the remaining cheese on top.

Unroll the remaining tube of crescent dough and lay on top of the casserole. Gently stretch the dough to cover the entire area. Try to seal the perforations after it's stretched out. Sprinkle the caraway seeds on top and bake for 14-16 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.

Let cool for five minutes before cutting.

Reuben Casserole

Ingredients

2 tubes (8 oz each) crescent roll dough
7 ounces sauerkraut, rinsed and well-drained
2/3 cup Thousand Island dressing
1 lb sliced Swiss cheese
1 lb sliced corned beef
3 teaspoons caraway seeds

Directions

Preheat oven to 375°F and grease a 13" x 11" baking dish.

Unroll one of the tubes of crescent rolls and press into the bottom of the baking dish making sure that the perforations are sealed. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.

Mix the sauerkraut and dressing  together in a small bowl.

When the crescent dough has come out of the oven layer half of the Swiss cheese on top. Then layer all of the corned beef.

Dollop the sauerkraut and dressing mixture over the corned beef. Layer the remaining cheese.

Unroll the other tube of crescent dough an lay on top of the casserole. Stretch the dough to cover the dish, making sure not to tear it and sealing the perforations.

Sprinkle with the caraway seeds and bake for 14-16 minutes or until golden brown.

Let sit for 5 minutes before cutting.

Enjoy!