Nostalgia, Minus The Menacing Ingredients - Homemade Hamburger Helper

There’s something deeply comforting about some old-school processed foods like Hamburger Helper. I mean, teams of scientists study craveability and spend a fortune to find the right chemical combinations that will get you hooked. But the snow doesn’t look like it’s ever going away and it’s 11 degrees outside, so I want to create a Hamburger Helper  that’s created in a kitchen, not a lab.

This homemade version is so simple, it’s weeknight nostalgia in a skillet and far more satisfying.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound ground beef

3 tablespoons butter

2 medium onions, chopped

2 bell peppers, chopped

2 heaping tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon onion powder

1 tablespoon paprika

1 tablespoon thyme

4 cups beef broth

1 cup uncooked ditalini or other small pasta

1 cup freshly grated cheddar cheese*

1 cup half-and-half

Salt and pepper to taste

*With regard to the cheese, you can really use whatever cheese you want, as long as it melts well. But do grate your own cheese. Pre-shredded cheese won’t melt as smoothly because they’re coated with non-caking agents, and this dish deserves a velvety finish.

METHOD

On medium heat in a large pot or Dutch oven, cook the onions, peppers and garlic until they’re all softened and fragrant.

Clear a spot and caramelize the tomato paste.

Add the  ground beef until browned.

Add the spices, broth and pasta.

Cook until the pasta is almost done, but al dente. About half of the liquid should have soaked into the pasta.

Add the cheese and half & half and stir well.

Lower the heat and let it reduce to the thickness you want.

Taste and season with salt & pepper.

Add hot sauce if you want some heat, or chopped scallions for a bit more freshness.

Pack some up in big jars and give them to friends and family here who are also dealing with the 11 degrees. Crusty bread  would be a major bonus.

They’ll enjoy the fact that dinner tastes like childhood, only better.

(Ingredients in boxed Hamburger Helper - Enriched Pasta (wheat flour, niacin, ferrous sulfate, thiamin mononitrate, riboflavin, folic acid), Corn Starch, Salt, Wheat Flour. Contains 2% or less of: Modified Whey, Onion Powder, Color (caramel color, annatto extract), Maltodextrin, Potassium Chloride, Hydrolyzed Corn, Soy, and Wheat Protein, Yeast Extract, Natural And Artificial Flavor, Vegetable Oil (canola, soybean, and/or sunflower oil), Spice, Monoglycerides, Sugar, Safflower Oil, Silicon Dioxide (anticaking agent).)