Pork and Wild Rice Casserole

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked wild rice
• 6 cups water
• 6 slices bacon
• 4 pounds ground pork
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion , chopped
• 0.5 cups celery , chopped
• 0.5 cups flour
• 3.5 cups half and half
• 1 can ready-to-serve cream of mushroom soup , 18 ounce
• 1 can sliced mushrooms , 8 ounce
• 1 cup slivered almonds
• 1 jar diced pimento , 2 ounce
• 0.25 cups chopped fresh parsley
• salt and ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

1. 1

   Place rice and water in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 45 minutes.

2. 2

   Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

3. 3

   Place bacon in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook until evenly brown. Drain, crumble, and set aside. Place pork in skillet and cook until evenly brown. Drain and set aside.

4. 4

   Reduce skillet heat to medium and melt butter. Stir in onion and celery, and cook until tender; set aside. Mix flour into remaining butter until smooth. In a bowl, mix the reserved mushroom liquid and half and half; stir into the skillet and cook until thickened. Stir in the soup. Mix in 6 cups cooked rice, cooked bacon, cooked pork, mushrooms, almonds, pimento, parsley, salt, and pepper.

5. 5

   Transfer into a 9x13-inch casserole dish. Bake in the preheated oven for 40 minutes.