2017-2-11 - Beefaroni (45 min. prep to eat.) (yield approx. 3-1/2 qts)

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Craving beefaroni. Flying by the seat of my pants. Made mac and cheese a while back. What could go wrong? Let's see what happens.

Ingredients:
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2-4 tbsp oil (I don't measure the oil, just pour, that's why I'm always iffy with the 2 to 4)
1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 lg sweet onion cubed
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce (I don't know what possessed me, never used it before in beefaroni)
1 tsp. garlic
2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp parsley
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 lb Barilla Cellentani pasta
2 14-oz cans DelMonte stewed tomatoes (original recipe - not my favorite)
1 24 oz jar Old World recipe Ragu sauce
1 24 oz jar of water

Directions:
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Pot on sautee, add oil, when hot add beef and brown.
When beef near done add cubed onion, other seasonings, stir lightly.
Add pasta, stewed tomatoes, Ragu, water, stir lightly.

valve on seal, manual, high, 6 min, quick release

Notes:
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Scooped two ladlefuls into a bowl, sprinkled with shredded mozarella and grated parmesan, tasted, and pronounced it "edible". ;) A piece of garlic bread might have been nice but I didn't miss it.

Like most recipes this, too, has lots of room for personalizing. Was afraid the last-minute addition of the jar of water was too much, but from having made the mac and cheese, I thought the pot needed more water. The consistency at finish was pefect for me and the meal, as pictured, could have been served to a hungry family out of the pot. As it's a bulk item for me, there will be some thickening on refrigerating. I'll see what it's like when chilled but suspect another jar of Ragu on hand will come in handy for re-heating.

Not much to say except while browning beef I decided to add Worcestershire sauce because the meat wasn't really brown, just cooked. Didn't seem to hurt the final flavor any. Also, last time I bought a case of tomatoes, I bought the wrong ones "DelMonte stewed original". I don't care for the "original" flavor but as it turns out they worked out just fine in this Italian-style meal but, still, I prefer the other kind for soups, etc., - can't think of the name right now.

Will try to remember to add a note on how this is on re-heating and whether or not it will need more sauce.

Update: Made this in the early afternoon and by 9 p.m. the left-overs were well chilled. Filled a bowl and heated in the microwave. Although not as wet as when first made, it was still moist enough not to need additional sauce. It had great flavor without the cheese, too.