Wild Rice Hotdish

4.88 from 8 votes

This is a hearty, homey casserole that brings together wild rice, mushrooms, bacon, cheese, and some venison or beef. It keeps a week in the fridge and makes great leftovers.

Prep Time20

Cook Time1

Total Time1 20

Course: lunch, Main Course, Rice

Cuisine: American

Servings: servings

Author: Hank Shaw

Ingredients

8 ounces bacon
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, chopped (any kind)
1 white or yellow onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 pound sausage, cut into chunks
4 cups cooked wild rice
3 ounces water chestnuts, chopped (fresh or canned)
1 10- ounce can of cream of celery soup
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon dried savory or thyme
4 ounces grated gruyere, Swiss or Emmentaler cheese

Instructions

Fry the bacon in a pan until crispy. Eat a piece. Chop the rest. Pour off all but about 3 tablespoons of the fat (save it for another dish). Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Saute the sausage, mushrooms, onion and celery in the bacon fat until the vegetables are soft and everything is just beginning to brown. While it's all cooking, use a wooden spoon to scrape up any browned bits off the bottom of the pan. Add the water chestnuts and wild rice and mix well.
Turn off the heat and mix in cream of celery soup, herbs and half the cheese.
Butter a casserole dish; a 9x13 should work fine here. Pack the contents of the pan into the casserole, and top it with the chopped bacon and the rest of the cheese. Bake for 1 hour, or until the cheese is nicely melted and starting to brown -- check it at 45 minutes.

Notes

Four cups cooked wild rice is generally 1 heaping cup of dry wild rice.
Any fresh mushroom you like will work here: buttons, chanterelles, morels, you name it.
You can use any mild sausage. Brats are a good choice, as is sweet Italian sausage or Polish sausages. Nothing too strongly flavored.
If you want to use a different meat, ground venison, beef or turkey works well, as does leftover brisket or pot roast, chopped roughly.

Nutrition