Beef & Mac

One of my favorite comfort foods is a simple dish frequently marketed, in frozen, single-serving trays, as "Macaroni & Beef": ground beef in a tomato sauce with elbow macaroni. At its best it's deliciously unctuous and satisfying. Obviously it's not a terribly complicated dish but I'd never tried to make it up on my own, despite the fact that it's very, very similar to sloppy joes (another favorite) with macaroni thrown in.

Now it has come to pass: I made it last night for dinner from a recipe I just happened across;* in that incarnation it was called "Macaroni Goulash", a name I'd never heard for it, but its pedigree was evident from a quick read. This recipe was an important find for me, too, because I'd been on the watch for dishes with noodles or pasta where the recipe used uncooked pasta as the ingredient, rather than the ubiquitous "Boil water & cook according to package direction"; clearly it only takes the right amount of liquid, but I didn't feel like figuring out how much was enough. Someday I'll have a recipe for a Tuna-Noodle Casserole that likewise uses uncooked noodles.

This version, which I altered slightly, worked out quite well and tasted just about as I thought it should. In the future I'll probably try adding a bit of plain, yellow prepared mustard, which I always put in my sloppy joes for a nice extra bit of piquancy. Also, I didn't drain the ground beef — it was probably about 15% fat but I think the extra bit of fat probably added just the right mouth feel. I made it this time with farfalle (bow-tie) pasta because that's all I had, but I'll move up to elbow macaroni next time. I might also add some "Italian Seasoning", which might perk it up some, too. The original recipe called for 2 tablespoons sugar, which can be added if one objects to the acidity of the tomatoes.

Beef & Mac

  • 1 lb. ground beef
  • 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 2, 14.5-ounce cans diced tomatoes with liquid
  • 1 cup (half of one 15-ounce can) tomato sauce
  • 2 cups (about 8 ounces) dry pasta, traditionally elbow macaroni

Brown the beef and cook with the onions and garlic until the onions are semi-transparent.
Add the tomato products, stir in the uncooked pasta, and simmer for 10-15 minutes until the pasta is cooked to taste.

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*From a middle-aged cookbook I recently acquired: Pillsbury's Creative Cooking in Minutes: Especially good and easy meals for all occasions (Minneapolis, Minnesota : Pillsbury Publications, 1971).

Posted on June 1, 2007 at 18.31 by jns · Permalink
In: All, Food Stuff

One Response

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  1. Written by S.W. Anderson
    on Saturday, 2 June 2007 at 16.06
    Permalink

    I'll bet you'd enjoy a dish I had many times, many years ago when living in a deep-South city: Chili Mac. Beefy chili as a rich sauce for seashell macaroni, with some N'Orleans spice and, of course, pepper-sauce heat thrown in.

    Chili Mac was served with a generous chunk of buttered and lightly grilled baguette (bread), which fresh off the bus from the Big Easy each morning. That was easily arranged because Al's Half Shell (named for clam dishes served there) was but a short walk from the bus station.

    I've tried several times over the years to duplicate Al's Half Shell Chili Mac. I came up with some tasty chili mac, but none of it quite the same. Too much like commercial chili, too little like Cajun-edged spices. Sigh.

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