Coy School Beef and Macaroni

Preparation time: 45 Cooking time: 35 Easy - for beginners Serves: 6

Description

This is a hearty, satisfying dish! I spent years trying to duplicate, then improve upon, this staple dish from my grade school's cafeteria in the early 1960s. Definitely a favorite comfort food of mine! Pairs beautifully with Jell-O cubes!

Ingredients

1 pound ground beef
1 sweet onion, diced
Olive oil
Dash of crushed red pepper
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon Lowrey’s or other seasoned salt
1 large can (28 oz) of diced tomatoes, juice and all
1 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 cups uncooked macaroni
1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Method

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the macaroni following the directions on the box.

Heat a large (3 qt) saute pan or skillet, add 1 Tbsp of olive oil, then saute your diced onions until they’re to your liking. Remove the onions from the pan. In the same pan, brown your ground beef. I like to poke at the beef while it’s cooking so that it ends up in smaller chunks. Add your onions to the pan with the ground beef.

Add your crushed red pepper, celery seed and seasoned salt to the mix and stir. Add your diced tomatoes, juice and all, and your sugar to the pan. Add Worcestershire sauce and stir well. Simmer for a few minutes. Add the cooked macaroni and chili powder, then simmer for about five minutes.

You can eat this right away, but in my opinion, this is one of those dishes that improves over time. It’s particularly good the next day!