I remember eating Sloppy Joes when I was a little girl – but, the canned kind. And, I’ve eaten them plenty as an adult – again, the canned kind. I’ve always loved Sloppy Joes – so I’m not sure why it has taken me so long to try my hand at making homemade Sloppy Joes.
I started by finely dicing a 1/2 an onion.
In a hot pan, I added a little bit of olive oil, the diced onion and some minced garlic. I cooked until the onions started to soften.
I then added in the ground beef and seasonings. I used a 93% lean ground beef, so there was no need to drain it after browning.
To the browned meat, I added in ketchup, mustard, worcestershire sauce and brown sugar.
I added more after this pic, so ignore the portioning 🙂
I let the Sloppy Joe mixture simmer for about 15 minutes (you could certainly simmer longer, but I was hungry!).
When I was a little girl, I remember having goulash – and this recipe reminds me of that. While this recipe is not the same as the goulash I ate as a child, it is one that I know we’ll make a lot – as it a comforting, filling and easy recipe.
The recipe contains ground beef, tomatoes, onion, kidney beans, noodles, cheese and seasonings. What could be more comforting than that?
I started by chopping an onion and then cooking it, with some garlic and olive oil, in a large dutch oven.
After the onions and garlic sauteed for about 5 minutes, I added in the ground beef and cooked until it was browned. I added in the seasonings and stirred through.
Once the beef was done, I added in the canned ingredients – tomatoes, tomato paste and kidney beans and stirred through. I added in the beef stock and brought the pot up to a boil.
After a boil was achieved, I lowered the heat to simmer and added in the pasta. I allowed the pasta to cook for approximately 13 minutes (just cook until the pasta is done, refer to the box for cooking times).
While the pasta was cooking, I shredded approximately 1 1/2 cups of cheese. I used moneterey jack cheese, but cheddar would be good too!
Once the pasta is done, you’ll want to add in the cheese and stir through. You can add more cheese, when serving, if you like!
Easy Chili Mac
1 lb lean ground beef 1 1/2 onion, diced 1 tbsp minced garlic 1 16 oz box elbow macaroni pasta 1 large can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes 1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce 1 can rotel tomatoes with chilis 1 can dark red kidney beans (drained) 3 cups beef stock 1/2 tbsp chili powder 3/4 tbsp cumin 1 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 1 1/2 cups grated cheese 1 tsp olive oil
Put olive oil in hot dutch oven (or large pot)
Add in garlic and onions and saute for about 5 minutes
Add ground beef to pot and cook, until browned
Add in seasonings and mix through
Add in tomatoes, tomato sauce and kidney beans, bring pot to a boil
Reduce heat and add in the box of pasta
Cook until pasta is done (around 13-15 minutes should be sufficient)
The other day, I bought some bell peppers – these were admittedly ‘value’ peppers, all in one bag, that were a LOT less expensive than the $2.99 (green) – 3.99 (yellow and red) PER BELL PEPPER that they wanted, otherwise (** side note, not sure what was going on there, I don’t recall ever seeing peppers that expensive before). The ‘value’ bag had one yellow bell pepper that was used for another recipe, the remainder were green. I mention the ‘value bag’ status of these peppers because, they are the funkiest shaped peppers I’ve ever seen in my life. That said, probably not the prettiest to use for stuffed peppers – but, you work with what you have!
One thing that I really don’t like, with regard to stuffed bell peppers, is when the pepper doesn’t seem to be cooked through fully – that said, I decided to ‘precook’ my peppers in the oven. I simply halved the peppers, tossed them with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper – and cooked them in the oven for 20 minutes, sliced side down. At that length of time, they maintain their integrity, but cook long enough that they will be perfect after baking them stuffed!
While the peppers were cooking, I got started on the filling. This consisted of ground beef, onion, mushrooms, a can of Rotel tomatoes (I missed it in the picture below, but I’ve included a picture separately in case anyone doesn’t know what I’m talking about), cooked rice (I had some frozen, I used that), garlic, salt and pepper.
The filling started with a little bit of oil in a large skillet – once the oil was hot, I added in the onions, garlic and mushrooms. I cooked this mixture for about 10 minutes.
Once the vegetables were on their way, I added in the ground beef and cooked it through.
The next step was to add in the rice. As I was using frozen rice, there were some clumps – I just allowed the warm ground beef to break it apart and stirred until the rice was separated and warmed through.
Finally, I added in the can of Rotel tomatoes and mixed everything through. I reduced the heat to simmer, covered and allowed it to cook for about 10 minutes. This should be about the same time that the peppers are ready to come out of the oven.
***Note, for the next time I make this, I’m thinking I will add some cheese to the mixture, itself, as well.
While you’re letting the filling simmer, you can take that time to grate some cheese (use whatever cheese you like, I used monterey jack), if you’re not using pre-grated cheese.
Once the filling is completed and the peppers are out of the oven – it’s time to put things together! It couldn’t be easier – just flip the peppers over in the baking dish, fill with as much filling as you’d like – top with cheese and you’re ready to put it back in the oven!
Cover the baking dish, loosely, with foil (you want to try to avoid the foil touching the cheese, so you don’t ‘loose’ your cheese when you remove the foil) and cook for 20 minutes. After 20 minutes, you’ll want to remove the foil, return to the oven and cook for a final 10-15 minutes (until the cheese starts to brown).
Stuffed Bell Peppers Total cooking time approx. 1 hour 15 minutes
4 Bell Peppers, halved 1 lb ground beef 1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms 2 cups cooked rice (I used frozen rice that I’d made earlier) 1 can Rotel tomatoes 1/2 onion, diced 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce 1 tbsp minced garlic 1 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper olive oil
In large baking dish/pan – add halved bell peppers, spread a little bit of olive oil on both sides, salt and pepper. Bake peppers @ 375 degrees for 20 minutes (sliced side down)
Add small amount of oil to skillet – then add in onion, garlic and mushrooms to pan. Cook for approx 10 minutes, stirring occasionally
Add ground beef, salt and pepper to pan and cook the beef thoroughly
Add rice – stirring, allow rice to warm through (will take longer if you use frozen rice like I did)
Add in can of Rotel tomatoes, stir – cover and simmer for 10 minutes
Once mixture is done simmering (10 minute) and timer goes off for the peppers – remove peppers from oven
Flip pepper halves over in pan (peppers should be somewhat cooked, but not mushy)
Add filling to each pepper
Top with shredded cheese, add pepper if you like
Loosely cover pan with foil (try to ‘tent’ the foil so that your cheese doesn’t melt to it in the oven) and return to oven for 20 minutes
Remove foil and cook for another 10-15 (or until cheese starts to brown)
This recipe is one that I’ve been cooking for years. Some might even say that it is my ‘signature’ dish. It’s good, comfort food! I can remember having something similar when I was a kid – over the years, I’ve tweaked it and adjusted it to our taste. It’s a layered casserole type dish that makes me so happy (it is PERFECT for leftovers – it just gets better!).
The dish is topped with mashed potatoes, so the first step is to dice up some potatoes and get them on to boil.
Then you will start making the base of the dish – the meat mixture. You’ll add your olive oil to a pan (or dutch oven) and heat it up – then, you add what all good dishes start with – garlic and onion! Cooking the onions until they are translucent.
Next, add the ground beef, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning. Cook until the ground beef is fully cooked.
The next step is to add the tomato paste, tomatoes and green beans.
Once all of the ingredients for the base of the dish have been added – cook for 10-15 minutes, allowing all the flavors to mix. Reduce the temperature to low-medium heat for the 10-15 minutes.
While the meat mixture is cooking – make your mashed potatoes. I’m a very picky about mashed potatoes and I make mine the way I grew up eating them – with Duke’s mayonnaise as part of the mix. This may not be to your liking (but, if you’ve never tried it – you should!!) – so, just make the mashed potatoes that you’d normally make.
After both components (meat mixture and potatoes) are you complete – you’ll add the potatoes on top of the meat mixture and top with grated sharp cheddar cheese (you can certainly use pre-grated cheese, but it will not be a good as if you grate it yourself !)
Put the baking dish or dutch oven in the preheated oven and cook until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown – change the oven over to broil for the last couple minutes and you’ll have a beautifully browned top to your cheeseburger pie.
If you like, you can top it with fresh basil – but, this is definitely not necessary.
I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe as much as I do – it is, without a doubt, one of my favorite things that I make! And, has always been something that people have loved for me to make!
Cheeseburger Pie
1tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 lbs lean ground beef
1 can french style green beans
1 small can (6 oz) tomato paste
1 large can (28 oz) diced tomatoes, drained
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp Italian seasoning
4 oz (1/2 small block) grated sharp cheddar cheese
Mashed Potatoes (my recipe below)
In pan (or dutch oven, if you want less to wash 🙂 ), warm up the olive oil
Add onion and garlic ad cook until onion is translucent
Add ground beef, salt, pepper and Italian seasoning and cook until ground beef is fully cooked (if you use lean enough ground beef, there is no need to drain the meat, otherwise, drain out the excess oil before next step)
Add in tomato paste, tomatoes and green beans and combine – allow mixture to cook for 10-15 minutes
If you did the meat mixture in a pan, transfer to a large baking dish – other wise, you’ll use the dutch oven for the next step.
Top meat mixture with mashed potatoes and cheese
Put in 400% oven for 30 minutes (on the last couple minutes, turn oven to broil to help brown the top).
Mashed Potatoes 8-10 potatoes, diced 1/2 cup milk 3/4 cup Duke’s mayonnaise 2 tbsp butter salt to taste
Boil potatoes in salted water, until fork tender. Drain potatoes and return to pot
Add butter, milk and mayonnaise
Mash with masher to your desired consistency (I don’t like mine too smooth)
Michelle Can Cook! 