Johnny Mezetti, what was he, who was he, what made him tick, etc.

DdBob

Dogue in teh desert
Who was he, what was he about, what made him "tick", all these questions and more can be answered here

"Johnny Marzetti is in many ways the King of Casseroles. The baked casserole with a base of browned ground beef, tomato sauce, cheese, and noodles is both inexpensive and simple to prepare. It also keeps well — if there’s any left, that is, since almost everyone loves it.

The dish has been a smash hit from the day in the early 1920s that Teresa Marzetti put her youngest brother-in-law’s favorite dish on the menu of her Broad Street restaurant in Columbus, Ohio. Joseph and Teresa Marzetti, whose very successful family restaurant business would eventually produce a salad-dressing empire, chose Johnny’s favorite kitchen meal for two reasons: First, it could be made ahead and in almost any proportion. And, at 45 cents, Johnny Marzetti was the perfect meal for the hundreds of nearby Ohio State University students with microscopic budgets. In fact, Johnny Marzetti rose in popularity so quickly after its restaurant debut that by 1929 it had begun to appear on Midwestern school cafeteria menus everywhere ... and in community cookbooks, of course................"








so.....Johnny Mezetti, what and intriguing name for a "dish". RAbout a year ago I was perusing one of my moms old recipe books, she had died recently so i was going through some of the many recipe books in a box. It was not a book I particularly remember her using during my childhood but it was apparently from her Soroity days..."The Beta Sigma Phi" cookbook "meats...this one
IMG_3674.jpg



on page 121 there's this qeird named recipe, not your usual Chicken ala King or beef macarooni suprise, etc. it was JOHNNY MEZETTI and upon furthur investigation there seemed to be at least three different versions with different names but all similar. The following pages had a couple more...wtf :confused:

IMG_3675.jpg


I choose the "Johnny mazzetti" and hot diggity dang if it ain't a winner winner mezzetti dinner *spits* I mean damn it is a GREAT recipe, very easy and simple to make and CHEAP.

so give that one a try and I'm pretty sure you will like it UNLESS you hate 'mericuh beacause the Casserole IS 'mericuh and according to the article I linked Johnny Mezetti and all it's variants is possibly the Gold Crown of casseroles, so try it :mad:

Here's mine from a couple nights ago , I've made it numerous times and never fails, please note that I forgot the pimentoes in this one but normally i put them in. This is classic 'merikana at it's finest!


In the Pan before the can of tomato soup

IMG_3658.jpg



Out of the oven

IMG_3659.jpg


On the plate

IMG_3660.jpg
 
We collect old recipe books. Given the wife' background, we have a lot of cookbooks from small, Norwegian Lutheran Midwestern church ladies. Those folks didn't fuck around - the desserts come first and are about 3/4 of the books!
 
Last edited:
I've always understood it as the Ohio version of goulash/hamburger hotdish/etc (all very midwestern)
 
I might have to try an adapted cherry pick of the 3 "Johnny" recipes on that page. I haven't made many casseroles, but I bet it would be a hit in my house.
 
I might have to try an adapted cherry pick of the 3 "Johnny" recipes on that page. I haven't made many casseroles, but I bet it would be a hit in my house.


Yeah according to that link I posted there's like 1000 JM versions, go for it! Casseroles rawk imho fwiw and this is a fine and dandy one.
 
Back
Top