I do to a certain extent...but more often than not I like to pump up the volume a bit.
And here is a good tip to follow when creating a dish that you really don't know what to call it and you are basically using whatever is in the frig/freezer/and/or pantry...start with a trinity. What's a trinity you ask? Well I don't know for sure if that is what this is called but that is what I have called it for ... well forever. Or since I've been cooking. Start with a little extra virgin olive oil (EVOO as RR would say) maybe 2 tablespoons, or use a couple-ish tablespoons of butter in a sauté pan. Chop anywhere from one half to a whole onion and two or three stalks of celery. Dice one half of a bell pepper....any color they are ALL fabulous! Add 1/2 tsp. of salt and 1/4 tsp. of pepper (S&P). Cook these lovelies over medium heat until they are tender. Now it's up to you on whether or not to add these to the mix, but I throw in a couple of pinches of crushed red pepper, and depending on what dish I am preparing such as Italian I would add oregano, basil, thyme and parsley, and for Mexican I use oregano and just a pinch of thyme, cumin is great too but use the thyme and cumin sparingly especially if using dried. Cook this for about 3 more minutes and if you are adding meat, throw that in so your meat absorbs this delicious flavor of herbs. If you want a creamy sauce to your meat mixture, add in any type of stock, if using chicken use chicken, or beef stock when cooking beef. If you don't have either, Lipton's onion soup mix is really good too. Now, if you have diced tomatoes in the pantry toss a can of those in, or tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes work great. Oh I was talking creamy sauce too wasn't I? Sorry I got a bit off track...but as far as measuring, I really don't, I just pour stock in until I cover the meat, stir in my tomatoes and then I pour in some heavy cream...yes! the creaminess begins! And use your judgment on the cream, if I were to guess I think it is at least a half a cup measured. But taste it, and add more cream if you want. And don't forget to season it again, a little more S&P.
Goulash:
2 TBS olive oil or butter
1 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/4 cup chopped bell pepper (I used red)
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp dried oregano
1/8 or less of dried thyme
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pound lean ground beef
Your favorite pasta, cooked (I used mezzi-rigatoni by Barilla, 1/2 box)
1 can (15 oz) diced or crushed tomatoes, or an 8 oz can of tomato sauce.
1 to 2 cups of beef stock
1/2 cup of heavy cream
In a saucepan sauté the onion, celery and bell pepper until tender. Sprinkle salt and pepper, crushed red pepper, oregano and thyme over all. Cook an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Add the ground beef and brown until no longer pink. Meanwhile cook your pasta so it is ready to combine. When the meat is cooked, add the can of tomatoes or sauce, add stock and cook for about 3 minutes over medium heat until heated through, then add the heavy cream and stir to combine.
Drain your pasta and add it back to your stockpot it was cooked in (I use my dutch oven) and pour the meat mixture over the pasta. Stir until all of the pasta is coated. If at this time it looks too dry, add more stock and if needed a little more cream. Continue to heat through. This will probably feed four to six hungry people. I had plenty of leftovers since only two of us ate tonight.
Pasta absorbs your sauce quickly so with your leftovers, add more stock to moisten as needed. Enjoy!
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