Quick and Hearty Beef-n-Roni

Every now and then I ransack my pantry to see what I can come up with for a quick meal. These dinners usually consist of some type of pasta. My pantry is always filled with an assortment of dry macaroni, cans of tomatoes diced and crushed and tons of beans. Those again, are staples in my house.

Beef-n-Roni is a fun meal that the kids will love and it won’t break the bank. This economically friendly and easy dinner will be an instant smash hit in your home. Where else can you feed your family for $2 a plate and still serve a nutritious dinner that they will undoubtedly want to eat over and over again?

You will need a pound of elbow macaroni which I love because they fit so nicely on a spoon, 2 ½ - 3 pounds of chop meat, one large Vidalia onion chopped, three garlic cloves finely chopped, two cans of diced tomatoes, one fresh tomato, two beef bouillon, 1 ½ cups of hot water, two bay leaves, fresh or dry basil, cumin, paprika, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Fill a pasta pot with water and set to boil.

Coat a large skillet with olive oil and brown the chop meat. Drain the excess fat, add the Vidalia onion, garlic and continue to sauté.

Spice it up. Chop meat can be a little bland so sprinkle in 1 ½ teaspoons of paprika, pepper and cumin. Add your two bay leaves and some fresh or dry basil about three leaves worth. Toss in your diced tomatoes and continue to cook. Put your beef bouillon in the hot water and let melt. Pour it in the beef and mix well.

Add salt to the boiling water. Cook your ‘roni’ as per instructions on the package. Reserve 1 cup of pasta water, just in case it is needed.

Using a slotted spoon, carefully transfer pasta to the meat one ladle at a time. If needed, add the pasta water a little at a time as well.

Garnish with fresh tomato and of course some grated cheese. Make sure you eat it with a spoon because you don’t want to miss a single drop.

 Now, wasn’t that easy? 

Until next time, mangiare bene!