# ISO Pasta Goulash



## desdwellers (Jan 9, 2003)

This is kind of a funny questiong but I am looking for that good ole' comfort food recipe for pasta goulash..you know the one with hamburger and stewed tomatos...and what ever. I have never made it the way I think it should taste. I would love someones old time recipe for that. THANKS!!!! Believe it or not...I can cook>>>LOL!!!


----------



## leigh (Jan 9, 2003)

Hi, desdwellers!  Don't know if this is what you're looking for, but we used to make a concoction we called "Chilimac".   

Sausage, 1 pound
Onion, 1 large, chopped
Chili powder, 1 tbsp or to taste
Tomatoes, 1 large can (back then, that meant 33 ounces and just TRY to find that size now  so use 2 or 3 14-oz cans).
Elbow macaroni, however much it takes
Water, ditto

Place sausage in a 3 or 4-quart pan, set on cold burner, turn on heat to medium, stomp sausage w/potato masher, leave to brown while you chop onion, which add when sausage is half done.  Keep the potato masher going until sausage is broken into small pieces, is browned, and onions are translucent.  Drain off fat and stir in chili powder.

Add tomatoes, and if they're not already chopped, stomp them too.

Add water to fill pan about halfway to top.

Add enough macaroni to take up the liquid- probably about half as much macaroni as liquid.  Stir, cover, bring to boil, stir again, lower heat to a tad above low, cover, cook until macaroni is done.

Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

This is the way we made it when I was a kid; today I add chopped garlic along with the onion and dump in Tabasco, basil, etc etc according to my mood of the moment.

As you can see, this is a VERY flexible recipe!  BTW, that pound of sausage will easily flavor twice the amount of other ingredients given here.

Hope this gives you at least a place to start.


----------



## kitchenelf (Jan 10, 2003)

Hi leigh,

I make mine the way my mother made it.  It doesn't taste like chili or spaghetti - just pasta, meat, and noodles, LOL

I just brown my ground meat, drain any grease, make sure it's seasoned while I'm cooking it though.  I just season this with salt and pepper.  Make macaroni noodles ahead of time that have been rinsed, drained and cooled.  A lot of times I don't rinse my noodles by this time I do because I don't want them to soak up all the tomato juice.  

Then after meat is done, add a can of either stewed plain tomatoes or just a can of squished up whole plain tomatoes.  Mix these two together and heat for about 5 minutes then toss in macaroni.  Like I said, check for salt and pepper. Heat until you can't stand it anymore and have a big bowl!!!


----------



## desdwellers (Jan 10, 2003)

*Thank yous*

Iwant to thank both leigh and kitchenelf once again for helping me with my questions. I love discusscooking!!! THANKS!


----------



## kitchenelf (Jan 10, 2003)

OOPS - I said hi to leigh instead of desdwellers - HI  DESDWELLERS - and of course, hi to leigh too! LOL


----------



## Claire (Jul 19, 2005)

I'm with Elf.  Mom used to call this "American Chop Suey".  It was very basic -- Mom was ahead of her time, so did drain the grease, and put sauteed onion and garlic salt (believe it or not, we moved around a lot and fresh garlic wasn't always available, and when it was could be rather nasty).  Mom loved bell pepper so probably chopped and sauteed some of that, too.  Then a can or two of tomatoes, and some boiled and drained macaroni (in the olden days it wasn't pasta!  haha!).  THEN, if we were flush, we got some cheese melted over the top!  Once again, real parmesan was unheard of, so it was canned, or it was cheddar.  A real 60s "we're broke and it's 4 days 'til payday" dish.  One of my little sisters hated (still does) ground beef, and these days were torture for her.  It honestly isn't a favorite dish of mine, because we ate it one heck of a lot!!


----------



## thumpershere2 (Jul 19, 2005)

Love the stuff. Mine is made by frying a few strips of bacon until crispy. drain off most of the grease but leave a little for flavor. Brown burger and alot of onions, add salt and pepper.Add tomatoes and just a little garlic powder. Simmer all this for about 10 min. add the cooked macroni and enjoy. I add enough tomatoes to make a juicy hot dish and enough for leftovers because it's good the second time around too.My grandmother called this the usual. She made this on sundays when all the kids came hoe to visit on the wekends.


----------



## marmalady (Jul 19, 2005)

"We're having beef-a-RO-ni; tastes like mac-a-RO-ni" - sorry, couldn't resist!


I actually made a veg version of this for hubbie/son yesterday - just used Morningstar Farms 'ground veggie meat', browned it w/onions and green pepper, added noodles and Ragu  !


----------



## SillyWabbit (Jul 19, 2005)

Oh I have one for you. Many years ago I worked at a bakery that had a lunch counter. They had a dish they sold called American Chop Suey. One of the older women gave me the recipe and I've been making it for over 30 years.  As a side note, going in early on the mornings I was opening I'd have fried dough before the owner baked the breads with butter and maple syrup. Heaven! 

                      American Chop Suey
1 pound hamburger
2 medium onions
2 or 3 stalks celery
1 green pepper
1 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes
1 can tomato soup
1 pound elbow macaroni
Chop onions and celery. Cook macaroni.
Saute green peppers, celery and onions in a generous piece of butter. When tender add broken up hamburger and cook until browned.
Squeeze tomatoes to break up. To hot vegetables and meat mixture, add tomatoes and tomato soup. Add cooked macaroni. Reheat and serve.


----------

