Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Beef Goulash

When we lived in Charleston, our neighbor across the street, Barbara made the most awesome goulash in the world. For years I begged her for her recipe. Our youngest daughter, Emily dearly loved her goulash and would be so happy when Barbara would bring over a big ol pot to share. Just the other day Emily mentioned how much she wished she could have some of Barb's goulash!

I got to thinking about it and started researching recipes. There seemed to be some pretty standard recipes out there. I started with this recipe and then did some tweaking to make it my own.

Goulash

1 15 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 8 oz can of tomato sauce  ( I used spaghetti sauce I made the previous day)
1 medium onion ( I used red) chopped
4 garlic cloves chopped
1 green pepper diced (I used red)
1/2 tsp of oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and thyme
2 tablespoons garlic powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
3 pounds of lean grown beef
1 - 2 pounds of pasta

Makes 6 servings

Place garlic, onion, pepper in 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Cook until the onions begin to caramelize. Remove from skillet. Brown meat in same skillet as veggies so anything left in pan can be cooked with the beef, add spices. As the meat begins to brown, break into smaller pieces. Drain meat after fully cooked. Add diced tomatoes to skillet allowing bits from pan to loosen. Add sauce, simmer 10 minutes. Add meat making sure all meat is evenly coated with sauce. Simmer 10 minutes. Add veggies simmering for an additional 15 minutes.

While beef sauce is simmering, cook pasta. I used elbow macaroni. Cook accordingly.
Pour meat sauce over pasta and mix. By cooking the pasta separately the pasta is able to maintain its shape and is not over cooked!

The next time I make this dish I am going to add zucchini. I think it will enhance the depth of flavor.