Not all meals in life have to be fancy or inspired! Sometimes you just have to get in the kitchen, throw some pantry staples together, and create a meal so wonderful even your kids will go hog wild and chow down. Today's recipe is a modern take on those classic boxed meat-helper meals your mom probably used to throw together after coming home from work exhausted and tired. Rather than processed, freeze dried, nuclear fallout shelter food-like substances, this Cheeseburger Pasta uses readily available pantry ingredients combining two of everyone's favorite food pyramid groups.....meat and pasta! Quick and easy to make, Cheeseburger Pasta is sure to become a new family favorite...Let's get cooking!
I have already mentioned that this recipe is simple, and to add to that we will only be using one pot and the only prep work needed is to dice an onion. It really is a quick, throw together, and eat meal! Nonetheless, the devil is in the details so to keep things a bit mild so that the kids dig in, dice a red onion which will help give us that traditional burger flavor without too much punch a yellow or white onion may provide. And just like that, our prep work is complete!
Keeping things moving along, add your ground beef to a pot or large sauté pan. Keep in mind, this is a one pot meal so make sure it is large enough to cook the pasta once you add the liquids and other ingredients. Otherwise you will end up using more cookware and having extra dishes to wash in the end...uggggggg! Cook the ground beef over medium to medium high heat. As the color begins to transform from pink to brown, be sure to season with salt/pepper and some Worcestershire sauce. I can't stress this enough.....be sure to season throughout the cooking process to build those levels of flavor and depth most people miss out on by waiting till the end.
Brown the ground beef for 5 or 6 minutes, then toss in the diced onion. Again, we are building those flavor levels one step at a time. Let the onions sauté with the meat for a couple minutes. There is still plenty of cooking time remaining so don't worry if your beef is still a little on the rare side. It will finish cooking with the rest of the ingredients shortly.
Before moving on, you may want to drain any excess grease and oil from your pot....or leave it in there and help line those artery walls...you do you! The beef should be about half cooked and the onions should have broken completely apart and begun to become translucent at this point. Next, pour in your beef broth to deglaze and get those tasty flavors off the bottom of your pot! Again, another flavor enhancing step people tend to forget about. Be "fond" of those bottom bits because they really add to the final flavor of this Cheeseburger Pasta...see what I did there? HaHa!
Now, for the easy part, dump the remaining ingredients, aside from the shredded cheese, into the pot and bring it up to a boil. Cooking the pasta in this burger liquid helps fortify those flavors throughout! You can really use just about any noodle you have in the pantry so don't get too hung up whether macaroni or penne or spiral is the right way to go. Use what you have on hand!
Once your pot reaches a good rolling boil, reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the pasta is cooked, about 10 minutes or so. The pasta should absorb most of the beef broth and the mixture should tighten up significantly. Once you feel comfortable that your pasta is cooked and everything is just about ready for the plate, turn off the heat and mix in the shredded cheese. It is Cheeseburger Pasta after all! The cheese should melt from the heat of the ingredients and finish tightening the dish up of any remaining liquid. And voila, you have created a quick and simple one pot meal everyone will enjoy!
Plating up this masterpiece can be personalized to everyone's taste! Once you dish out a nice bowl of the Cheeseburger Pasta, traditional burger toppings can be added for those snazzy Instagram-worthy pics! Pickles, extra onion, tomatoes....you can get really creative or leave it plain for those picky eater kids that are probably nagging you to death by now asking if dinner is done yet or not. You can always use some fancy cheese instead the typical cheddar to liven things up a bit too! Either way, never look back at those processed, meat-helper boxes again when you can create such an elevated, more delicious version yourself in the same amount of time. Get in the kitchen, use up those pantry staples, and make delicious meals for you and your entire family....Just Keep Cooking!
CHEESEBURGER PASTA
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