This 4-Ingredient Lunch From My Elementary School Cafeteria Is Still My Favorite Meal

I may be a restaurant critic and food writer, but like many others, I still crave comfort food from my early years—including my elementary school cafeteria.

My father worked as the upper school art teacher at Greenwich Country Day School in Connecticut. The small-town feel of the institution extended to the faculty and I grew up in a tight-knit community. When I was born, the head of the lunch room brought my mom apple crisp at the hospital. And my first pet was a feeder mouse for one of a science teacher’s classroom snakes that was bestowed to me in a butter cookie tin.

I’ve written about favorites at the school dining hall before, but with the exception of the famous apple crisp, I’ve rarely tried to prepare them at home. However, my husband and I recently discussed one of the most popular meals at GCDS and I became a little obsessed with one: Jack and Jills.

What Are Jacks and Jills?

At my elementary school, Jacks and Jills were basically French bread pizzas. But beneath the gooey blanket of cheese was something far more exciting to my 6-year-old sensibilities than tomato sauce: finely minced Sloppy Joe filling.

It turns out, though, Jacks and Jills are not the childhood classic I thought they were. In a Google search for the recipe, I dug up only one, attributed to an Epicurious contributor’s housekeeper, Winnie Spazano. The 2004 article was reminiscent of what I remembered but wasn’t an exact match.

The fact that it appeared to be a lost recipe compelled me to make it myself. I called my chef brother, Volodia, to ask if we could reconstruct the elements. The only time I had the dish outside of the cafeteria was when he made it for me more than 30 years ago. To me, it was an early mark of his skills, years before he went to culinary school. To him now, though, it was a little embarrassing.

But nonetheless, Volodia noted an important detail: While I remembered the stretchy cheese as mozzarella, he was certain it was a Cheddar blend. The oven-blistered cheese was a light-orange hue, not white as I recalled.

I went to Walmart to shop for ingredients. I bought lean ground beef, crusty mini baguettes, and the Bettergoods Cheddar, Gouda, and Gruyère cheese blend, which I hoped would elevate the flavors a bit beyond the processed cheese mentioned in the single recipe I found.

I elected not to make my Sloppy Joes from scratch, instead buying a can of Manwich sauce, to replicate the 1980s flavor I remember. Did it work? Absolutely. Was it a hit in my house? For a couple of ‘80s kids, it’s hard to find more nostalgic satisfaction. But I bet your kids will love it just as much.

The recipe even inspired my husband to create his own version of the dish, which we’ve dubbed Giacomos and Jills. After a meal of rigatoni, he spreads his remaining sausage Bolognese sauce on leftover garlic bread. A blend of mozzarella and Asiago finishes it before going in the oven.  

How to Make Jacks and Jills, Inspired by the Greenwich Country Day School Cafeteria

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef

• 1 can Sloppy Joe sauce (such as Manwich)

• 1 mini baguette

• 1 bag (7 ounces) grated Cheddar cheese blend

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees F. Break up the ground beef in a large pan over medium-high heat, searing the shreds until they’re brown. Add the can of sauce and stir until the meat is coated. Set aside.

2. Cut the mini baguettes in half lengthwise and across the top. Place the bread, cut side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet.

3. Spread the saucy beef mixture evenly on bread. Layer on the grated cheese.

4. Place the baking sheet in the oven and cook for about 30 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling and brown in spots. Serve with a lightly dressed green salad.
   

Related: 7 Kid-Friendly Dinners for Every Night of the Week

Read the original article on ALLRECIPES