Out of the Box Hamburger Helper

That's right HH, you should be shaking in your salty boots

I'm becoming a bit of a curmudgeon in my not so old age.  I'm also a little persnickety when it comes to Processed-salt lick-fake-unwholesome-dinner-in-a-box meals.  Specifically, Hamburger Helper (HH).   Whose bright idea was it to brainwash busy mothers everywhere into thinking this was a suitable replacement for something homemade?  Oh, I know- it's FAST.  And all you have to do is brown some hamburger and throw in a blood pressure rising seasoning packet, some water and some noodles and Viola- You just cooked dinner!  (applause, roses being thrown onto the stage, take a bow, grab your trophy and pat yourself on the back)... I loathe these types of "meals".


Because of my deep seeded disdain for highly processed "foods" I'm going to show you how to make a homemade version of that infamous boxed meal that will only take an additional 15 minutes worth of prep but it will taste a whole lot better AND it will be more nutritious and satisfying.  Best part is that you'll be eating real food, and you won't need any blood pressure medication after you eat my interpretation of HH.  You'll love this more than that little box sporting that creepy, smiley, white-gloved hand. Seriously- how does that not give people nightmares? 

Enjoy this meal. It's comforting, rich, filling, saucy, meaty... it's nothing but a plate full of happy food.  You'll be adding this recipe to your regular line up and you'll never buy boxed HH again. You won't, right?

 

Tell me this doesn't look better than boxed HH.

Out of the Box Hamburger Helper

Recipe by: KaceyCooks
Serves: 4
On the table in about 45 minutes.
 

INGREDIENTS: 

• 1 Box uncooked rigatoni pasta (I use Barilla- Do not use Creamette brand with this recipe)
• 1/3 to 1/2 cup quality freshly grated Parmesan cheese (grate your own)
• 1/2-3/4 cup heavy cream 
• 1 cup low sodium organic beef stock 
• 1 cup thinly sliced baby portabella mushrooms or 1/2 cup dried mushrooms reconstituted and chopped fine-shitake or portabella are my favorites for this dish
• 1/2 cup yellow onion- diced fine
• 1 tsp. freshly minced thyme, or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 TB. freshly chopped parsley
• 1 clove garlic finely minced
• 1/4 cup sherry or white wine. If you don't have either or don't want to use either, increase your beef stock by 1/4 cup.
• IF APPLICABLE: 1/2-3/4 cup of the mushroom water used to reconstitute the dried mushrooms. Make sure you strain this before you use it as dried mushrooms have dirt on them, and the dirt will settle to the bottom of your bowl.
• ½-3/4 cup of the pasta water (you may not need all of this)
• 1 lb. lean ground beef
• EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS:

1. Bring a pot of well-salted water to a boil.
2. Season the ground beef with 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. black pepper.
3. Add 1 tsp. EVOO and ground beef to a preheated skillet.  Over medium-high heat cook the ground beef until no more pink remains.  Remove from the pan and set aside.
4. Meanwhile, add pasta to boiling water and cook 1-2 minutes less than the package instructs as the pasta will finish cooking in the cream sauce. Drain and set aside if your pasta finishes before your sauce is ready. 
5. Return your skillet to medium low heat and add 1 tsp. EVOO.
6. Add the onions (salt and pepper them lightly) and cook until they are soft, slightly caramelized and translucent. 
7. Add mushrooms, thyme, and garlic and continue cooking until mushrooms are soft.
8. Add sherry or white wine to deglaze the pan. Stirring and scraping up the bits on the bottom of your skillet, cook until only 1 TB or less of the sherry/white wine remains.
9. Increase the heat to medium high and add the beef stock and/or mushroom water, and cook until it is reduced almost by half. 
10. Add cream to the onion-mushroom mixture and bring to a boil, immediately reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 5 minutes.  Add cooked pasta and enough pasta water to loosen the sauce if necessary.
11. Continue to cook until the sauce is slightly reduced and thickened and the pasta is well coated.
12. Add the Parmesan and parsley and stir to combine.
13. Add the ground beef and cook until warmed through.
14. On occasion I've had to add an additional splash of stock or mushroom water once the ground beef was added just to loosen the sauce enough so that it coated the meat well.  If you need to do this, go right ahead.  If you prefer more sauce, use a bit more cream and stock up in steps 7 and 8.
15. EAT IT !  

1- Reconstituting the dried mushrooms in hot water.  2- Straining the mushroom water so I don't add grit and dirt from the mushrooms to the skillet. 3- Ugly, reconstituted mushrooms. 4- Fresh Thyme leaves. 5- How to dice an onion. 6- Finely diced yellow onion. 7- Finely minced garlic.  8- EVOO in skillet.  9- Sauteing the onions, garlic and thyme until caramelized.