More Comfort Food

According to Cover & Bake (a cookbook from the Cook's Illustrated folks), Chili Mac is a dish that "everyone" grew up with—except me. As far as I can tell, it's American Chop Suey (elbow macaroni with ground meat and tomato sauce) with the addition of chili powder and melted cheese on top.

I tried this recipe one night last week. The kids are still a little weirded out about casserole-style food where everything's touching everything else, but they deemed this "OK." I loved it and will spring it on them again.

Chili Mac

1 Tbsp salt
½ lb. elbow macaroni
3 Tbsp vegetable oil, divided use
1½ lb. ground turkey or ground beef
2 medium onions, chopped medium
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped medium
6 garlic cloves, pressed
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp cumin
1 (14½-oz.) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 (28-oz.) can tomato puree
1 Tbsp brown sugar
8 oz. Co-Jack (mixture of Colby and Jack) cheese, shredded

Heat oven to 400°. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a Dutch oven. Stir in salt and macaroni and cook until al dente, about 5 minutes. Just before it's done, dip your Pyrex measuring cup in and reserve ¾ cup of the pasta water. Drain the pasta, transfer it to a bowl, and set aside. Don't bother washing the colander yet.

Wipe the Dutch oven dry and set over medium-high heat. Add 1 Tbsp of the oil and heat until shimmering. Add the ground meat and cook, breaking up the pieces with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink and beginning to brown, 5–8 minutes. Drain the meat through the colander, discarding the fat, and set aside.

Add the remaining 2 Tbsp oil to the Dutch oven and return to medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the onion, red pepper, garlic, chili powder, and cumin. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are softened and beginning to brown, about 7 minutes. 

Add the diced tomatoes and their juice, tomato puree, brown sugar, reserved pasta water, and drained meat; bring to a simmer. Lower heat and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, to allow the flavors to meld.

Stir in the cooked pasta and season with salt and pepper to taste. (I didn't bother with the seasoning, figuring–correctly—that the dish was already flavorful enough.) Pour into a 9x13" baking dish and sprinkle with the cheese. Bake until the cheese is melted and browned, about 15 minutes. Cool for 5–10 minutes before serving.

Comments

[Mark]

"The kids are still a little weirded out about casserole-style food where everything's touching everything else..."

Hilarious. And universal, I think.

[Wendy]

Is the cookbook all "comfort food" sort of recipes? This is, in fact, the sort of thing I ate a lot of growing up. Ground beef, cheddar, tomato sauce, pasta . . . oh, yeah. Makes me think I should make my mom's Sour Cream-Noodle Casserole.

[steve]

That is not something my mother would have ever made, but I definitely ate it in my public elementary-school cafeteria!

I've just recently started making a VERY modified version with onions, garlic, chicken sausage (which I remove from the casing), cannellini beans, some tomato paste and finished with fresh spinach or arugula. A one-pot, stove-top meal!

[Erin]

I'd never heard of American Chop Suey growing up (in Orange County, CA) and Chili Mac was something we only got in the cafeteria. Well, and the Hamburger Helper version. I like it.

[Ken George]

You've gone and done it again. More delectable recipes. Trying to hold on, but I doubt I can manage until dinner. Might need to run and grab a snack.

This comment belongs in your fun post about your day here at the station, but alas you write too fast (or maybe I am too slow). Thought I'd slot it in here so it doesn't get lost.

Thanks again for making sure the "t's" get crossed and the "i's" get dotted. Without your due diligence The ConverStation would be one heck of a mess.

It was great fun to have you come by the building to get a first-hand look at how the sausages are made (sorry got food on the mind). And its reassuring to learn you still strongly identify with WBUR, despite the fact the signal is no longer your public radio entry.

Your suggestions about local are intriguing. I agree too an extent, though I think our saving grace will be more in community, not necessarily specific content.
Before I leave you I must thank you for this tremendous blog!

Keep writing…Please!

[Elena]

Oh no! Why am I only reading this now at 5pm, with no dinner plan and no energy left to run to the store? I will put it on the menu for tomorrow!

[Susan]

Thanks for posting this. I keep trying to make my mom's American Chop Suey (she just wings it, so no recipe to hand to me) and stink at it every time. I'll give this a whirl since your kids approved it.

[Nancy]

Reading this recipe has made me terribly nostalgic; with the addition of chopped ripe olives, it could have been one of my childhood dinnertime staples. In my family, an aversion to casseroles would have led to quick death by starvation. My father strongly preferred them--he liked meat only when it was ground up and camouflaged, and I think he viewed casseroles as a more efficient, less time-wasting nutrient-delivery system than other meals--and consequently that's what my mother made. I grew up thinking it was sort of weird to see the food groups in lonely isolation.

[Di]

I'm making it....but didn't waste time trying to use just one pot. It would have taken FOREVER. So, we'll see what my family says!

[Deborah]

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Deborah

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