MONDAY MORNING RECIPE POST - CREAMY BEEF AND SHELLS

I found my dish today on a blog called Organized Chaos.  The original recipe can be found here.  It is not just about recipes, though there are many delicious ones shared. You will also find suggestions on how to organize your kitchen and home improvements. It’s fun to look through.  

(In my photos you will see I didn’t use pasta shells. I used what we already had, which was butterfly pasta (Farfalle). Farfalle (pronounced far-FALL-lay) in Italian, literally means “butterflies”. It is also widely known in the U.S. as bow-tie pasta due to its shape. It’s a versatile short pasta from Northern Italy, often pinched in the middle with ruffled edges, great for sauces and salads, with smaller (Farfalline) and larger (Farfalloni) versions available. I have only seen the Farfalle in our stores, which is our favorite.) 

Creamy Beef and Shells - serves 6

8 ounces medium pasta shells 

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 pound ground beef

1 small sweet onion, finely diced

5 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning 

1 teaspoon dried parsley 

1/2 teaspoons dried oregano 

1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika 

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup beef stock

1 (15 ounce) can marinara sauce

3/4 cup heavy cream 

1/4 cup sour cream

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/2 cup freshly grated cheddar cheese 

Prepare pasta shells according to package directions in a large pot of salted boiling water. Drain and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned, about 3 to 5 minutes, breaking it apart with a spoon. Drain any excess fat and set the beef aside.

Using the same skillet, sauté the diced onion for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute until fragrant.

Stir in the flour and cook for 1 minute, whisking until lightly browned (this will help thicken the sauce). 

Gradually whisk in the beef stock, followed by marinara sauce. Stir in Italian seasoning, parsley, oregano and paprika.

Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sauce thickens slightly. 

Add cooked pasta and the browned beef back into the skillet. Stir to coat everything evenly in the sauce.

Stir in the heavy cream and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until heated through. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper. Then stir in the sour cream.

Fold in the grated cheddar cheese and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes, until the cheese has fully melted.

Serve the creamy beef and shells immediately. Garnish with parsley (optional but this will add color to your dish). 

Enjoy! 

 

This was a delicious recipe, a 10 out of 10. 

I added a leaf of flat-leafed parsley on top and diced red sweet pepper to not only give the color, but it also tasted great. You can leave it plain as in my first photo. I also sprinkled it liberally with pepper, and I have also been sprinkling turmeric. My dear other half doesn’t like the taste of turmeric, so left that to me.

I don’t do well with any kind of cream but I had whole milk in the fridge. That was a nice substitute.

 I added the following from the original recipe.

Refrigeration: store in an airtight container for up to 3 to 4 days.

Freezing: portion and freeze for a later meal. For best results, thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating. (This is what I intend to do.)

Reheating: warm on the stovetop or in the microwave, adding a little milk or water to refresh the sauce.  (When we reheated the next day, we added a splash of beef broth, which was left over and refrigerated.)

I made double so we would have several meals. 

We had a simple vegetable salad on the side.

Apart from not using the pasta shells, the above were the only other changes I made.

I include the full blog address in case you would like to copy and paste instead of using the link above.

https://anorganizedchaos.com/creamy-beef-and-shells/

Thanks for looking and have a great week.