Name: Easy Macaroni with Ground Beef
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: serves 4 people
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil; 1 onion, finely diced; 2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped; 1 stalk of celery, finely chopped; 1 carrot, finely chopped; 350 g ground beef (chuck) (12.4 oz); 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar; 400 g canned whole tomatoes (1 tin can or 14.1 oz or 2 cups); 1 bay leaf; 1 tsp dried oregano; 240 g macaroni; 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (+ for sprinkling); 60 g grated cheese (mixture of Cheddar and Mozzarella) (1/2 cup)

Easy Macaroni with Ground Beef

Easy Macaroni with Ground Beef is similar to a quick Bolognese sauce, but it contains a lot more vegetables, like onions, garlic, carrots, celery, tomatoes. I admit, we are the biggest Bolognese sauce fans, but we like to make it like Italians, traditionally. Cooking the sauce for many hours and giving it a lot of attention. However, a lot of times, that’s hard to do during the week and so when we crave a good bolognese pasta, this is our cheaty, go-to version. After doing some research I learnt that in the United States this dish is also pretty similar to a dish called Hamburger Helper, which we found super interesting. This is such an easy pasta dish, that’s packed with veggies, ground beef and macaroni. You could use other varieties of pasta, but in our opinion, macaroni is the best option, because it’s not to big and it compliments the beef sauce beautifully. We also used a trick, that we never use with bolognese sauce, and that’s adding a mixture of cheddar and mozzarella cheese at the end, something we saw when doing a research (Hamburger Helper) and it truly was a lovely addition. Sprinkle with parsley right before serving to add a bit of freshness. Delicious, easy, affordable and quick. Make sure to add this one to your ground beef recipes collection soon.

This macaroni recipe is truly divine. The sauce melts in your mouth and it’s so full of flavor, yum. We used macaroni in this recipe because we love the texture and we love to eat this dish with a spoon, as that’s the best way to eat comfort foods, am I right? We used whole canned tomatoes in this recipe, but you can use fresh chopped tomatoes mixed with some homemade tomato sauce too, but since the tomatoes aren’t in season right now, we used the canned version. You can also use a mixture of ground beef and ground pork for this recipe if that’s what you prefer.

Mmm, I mean, just look at that melted cheese? Isn’t that pure cheese perfection? I honestly can’t believe this dish is made in just 40 minutes from start to finish, yum.

METHOD

cook the vegetables

Place a skillet over medium-high heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil, diced onion, chopped garlic, chopped celery and chopped carrot. Stir to combine and cook for about 5 minutes, for the veggies to become soft and the onion translucent. Transfer to a bowl.
Ground beef

Place the skillet back on the high heat. Add a tablespoon of olive oil and ground beef. Cook for about 5 minutes or until the meat is brown and beautifully caramelized, stirring occasionally. Add balsamic vinegar, stir to combine. Return the vegetables to the ground beef, add the canned tomatoes, 1 cup of water, bay leaf, dried oregano, black pepper (to taste) and cover with a lid. Cook for about 20 minutes.

Tip

The balsamic vinegar will add a lovely sweet aroma to the dish.
Cook the macaroni

Cook the macaroni according to instructions on the package. When the macaroni are cooked, drain them and reserve 50 ml of cooking water.
Easy Macaroni with Ground Beef

Season the Ground Beef sauce to taste with salt and pepper. Add a tablespoon of chopped parsley and stir to combine. Remove the bay leaf and add the cooked macaroni and reserved water. Stir to combine. Arrange the grated cheese on top, cover with a lid and cook over very low heat for about 2 - 3 minutes or until the cheese is completely melted. Divide between four plates and serve.