If you like cooked pasta, tomato sauce, and lots of bold, robust flavor, you’re going to LOVE this goulash recipe. My kids think the bow ties are so cute! They actually don’t eat regular goulash using elbow macaroni but they will eat thus stuff in a heartbeat. I guess all you need to do is use bow tie pasta to get the wee ones to eat their supper.
I just call this goulash “great”!
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef or ground turkey
4 c Hunt’s tomato sauce
1 can(s)kidney beans, drained
1 can(s)garbanzo beans, drained
1 can(s)whole kernel corn, drained
1 can green beans
1 lg. can(s)diced tomatoes, canned (approx. 28 0z.)
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 clove garlic (minced–to hide it from the kids!)
1 c water chestnuts, diced or sliced (optional–these were not in mama’s goulash!))
1 tsp Morton salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
1/2-1 tsp turmeric, ground (optional)
1 1/4 c Barilla dry shell Bow Tie Pasta (or whatever pasta you have on hand)
1-2 c hot tomato juice or hot water (if needed for consistency)
Instructions
Brown ground meat with onion and garlic. Drain excess grease.
Put all the ingredients except the meat and macaroni into the slow cooker and then stir the meat in (so it doesn’t settle on the bottom).
Cook on high for at least three hours (or on low for 6 to 8 hours) to allow the flavors to blend.
A couple of hours before you want to eat stir in the dry macaroni. You CAN put it in at the beginning, but it will grow and grow, especially if you let it cook all day, so if that’s your plan, start with really tiny pasta, like tiny elbow mac or stars.
I sometimes just cook the pasta in a pan of water and stir it into the goulash 15 or 20 minutes before I serve it. That way, it’s done perfectly–isn’t mushy or “crunchy.” Pasta can be very tricky in a slow-cooker.
At this point, the goulash should be juicy–almost a soup, so if it starts to get too thick, add some hot water or hot tomato juice.
None of these amounts or ingredients are critical. Use what you have or what your kids like. Use pinto beans if they don’t like kidney beans or leave out the garlic. Leave out the cayenne and turmeric if your family doesn’t like the little bit of “heat” they add.
MY MOTHER’S METHOD (great for throwing together when you get home from work) was to cook the macaroni al dente, brown the meat, then put it all in a kettle on the stove and let it simmer for a couple of hours until dinnertime. The taste isn’t quite as mellow, but it’s still awfully good, and doesn’t require as much advance planning!
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Quick Tip: Serve this goulash with buttered bread and a tossed salad for a complete family meal.
Thanks to Ipinimg for this great photo.
