Like anything else that came out of my family's kitchen, there was nothing fancy about Mom's goulash, which was nevertheless one of my very favorite childhood dinners. It consisted of a box of macaroni, a pound of ground beef, an onion, and a big can of Hunt's Meat Sauce. It was always served with a side of peas and buttered bread, maybe with parmesan cheese (and by parmesan cheese, I mean the off-brand Kraft equivalent) if we were lucky. We never complained. I still get cravings for it. It's comfort food at its...finest? Maybe not, but in any case, a big pan of goulash never lasted more than two days in our house.
Now, I know, that's not "goulash." Except that it is, as far as I'm concerned. In New England, I believe they call it "American chop suey." Call it American chop suey if you want, but it'll always be goulash to me. Apologies to Hungary. #sorrynotsorry
I've since moved away from the big can of Hunt's Meat Sauce my mom was always fond of using. I've experimented with several different ideas, and I like to think the recipe I eventually cobbled together kicks up my childhood favorite a few notches, without getting too far away from its roots. This is not a dish to be pretentious with. Red wine? I love cooking with it, but save it for another dish. I added it once, and it just felt wrong. This goulash is too humble for that.
There still isn't much to the dish as far as ingredients are concerned. Aside from 1 pound of lean ground beef (which I left out of the picture for some reason), here's what you'll need: 1 pound of elbow macaroni, 2 tablespoons of olive oil, a large onion, a large bell pepper, 6 cloves of garlic, 1 teaspoon of paprika, 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes, 28 ounces each of crushed and diced tomatoes (I use Hunt's), 6 ounces of tomato paste, and 1 teaspoon of sugar.
Finely chop the onion and bell pepper and mince the garlic. Heat the olive oil to a large pan or Dutch oven over medium-high heat and add the onion and bell pepper. Sauté until they're tender, or about 8 minutes.
Add the ground beef and some salt and pepper and cook through. Drain off any liquid. Then, add the garlic, paprika, and crushed red pepper flakes and stir for another couple of minutes.
Add the crushed and diced tomatoes, tomato paste, and sugar. Salt and pepper until it is well seasoned. At this point, if you like a little more heat like I do, you can add another teaspoon or so of crushed red pepper flakes. Stir well, turn the heat to high, and bring to a boil. Then, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the sauce thickens.
While the sauce is simmering, boil the macaroni in generously salted water. Drain and set aside. When the sauce is done, simply add the macaroni and stir for a few minutes until it is hot all the way through. If it needs more salt or pepper, feel free. And then, enjoy!
Old habits are hard to break--I'm eating this with a side of buttered peas and a toasted slice of garlic sourdough. I also added some freshly grated parmesan cheese (this dish can be humble and still have
some nice things), which makes the goulash just perfect. Doesn't get much better than this!
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