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 once 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. Now I've experimented and found out.
This version I have altered somewhat over time to reach this peak of perfection; it now tastes exactly as I thought it should. The yellow mustard (please, no Dijon mustard in this version) adds a lovely piquancy. The "Italian Seasoning" perks things up a bit, and the packet of Splenda takes the acidic edge off the tomato sauce. The amount of liquid should make the elbows come out cooked properly; if you find them too floury tasting, add more liquid.
One other note: for this dish I always use ground beef with 30% fat and I never drain it after browning. The fat gives a most suitable mouth feel and enhances the taste.
Beef & Mac
- 1 lb. ground beef
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1, 26-ounce jar pasta sauce (tomato & basil is good!)
- 1 cup water
- 0.5 cup hearty red wine
- 1 tablespoon, more or less, prepared yellow mustard
- a few shakes of Italian seasoning
- 1 sachet Splenda sweetener
- 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 pasta sauce, water, and wine, 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).
