As a little girl, I would look forward to staying at my Auntie Karen’s house because I knew we would have at least one meal of American Chop Suey. The name may sound a little funny, but this all-American meal is quite the crowd pleaser. Young children with simple pallets love this dish with a healthy glass of milk while adults can enjoy this filling pasta with a glass of red wine. It is the perfect dish for busy parents and fledgling cooks alike, because it is fast and easy to prepare in big amounts and tastes just as good as leftovers. This is a good meal to prepare ahead of time for the kids to eat with the babysitter. It’s also a great, inexpensive recipe to send with your child to college, where he or she may be preparing their own meals for the first time. Once you have all the typical spices on hand in your cupboard, this becomes a great meal to fall back on in a pinch.
Auntie Karen makes this dish with ground hamburger meat, but I prefer to use ground turkey meat instead. She usually uses onion powder, because her son was a picky eater who did not like to eat onion pieces.
Auntie Karen’s American Chop Suey Recipe
Ingredients:
One regular size jar of a basic Italian tomato sauce
One to one and half pounds of lean ground turkey or ground beef
Non-stick cooking spray
Two tablespoons parsley flakes
Two tablespoons Italian seasoning blend
Two tablespoons oregano
Two teaspoons garlic powder
Two tablespoons minced onion (or onion powder)
One pound of small pasta such as elbows, shells or ziti
Directions:
Cook the pasta in a deep pasta pot as directed on the package. Stain the pasta and return it to the pasta pot. Meanwhile, brown meat in a frying pan sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, at medium heat. While browning, add all spices and mix well. When the meat is cooked through, drain off any fat if necessary. Then mix the sauce into the meat mixture. When the sauce is heated through, pour the meat sauce into the pasta pot and toss well. Serve in bowls with grated parmesan cheese.
This dish goes really well with nice, hot garlic bread. I have never used fresh spices for this recipe, but I imagine they would go well. However, that would probably add to the length of the cooking time. Italian white beans or frozen spinach would also be easy, healthy additions.
