[Food Tip: The secret to a good goulash is the paprika. If you can find fresh Hungarian paprika, it will add a hot and sweet taste to this dish.]
Wednesday at noon the lunch bell would ring. The most popular lunch was waiting – goulash, green beans, a salad, and a roll. Jeanette’s memory collaborated with her taste buds to recreate this childhood favorite.
Ingredients:
1 pound ground sirloin beef (7 percent fat by weight)
1 1/2 cups celery, diced
1 cup sweet yellow onion, diced
½ cup green bell pepper, diced
2 (14.5-ounce) cans stewed tomatoes, chopped (Italian style stewed tomatoes is especially good)
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 ½ cups Elbo-Roni pasta, uncooked
Directions:
1) In a large Dutch oven or sauce pan over medium-high heat, brown beef, celery, onion, and green pepper. Saute for about 8 minutes, breaking up meat into small pieces. Drain any fat.
2) Stir in the remaining ingredients, except pasta. Reduce heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes. (The longer you simmer, the more tender the meat becomes).
3) Cook the pasta according to package directions. Rinse, drain, and set aside. When sauce is done simmering, add pasta to sauce. Mix well. Serve hot. Makes 6 servings.
Nutritional Analysis per serving: 266 Calories; 19 percent fat (5.6 grams); 2 grams saturated fat; 35 percent protein; 46 percent carbohydrate; 4.5 grams fiber.
