American Chop Suey
- Jamie
- Jan 20, 2020
- 2 min read
Do you ever just crave some warm, comfort food? You know the kind that I'm talking about... the aroma fills the house while you are cooking, giving you a warm fuzzy feeling. Then that first bite is the perfect memory of my grandma's house. I've been making American Chop Suey for my family for years and you probably have been making some version too. Some people like to use the term goulash or Johnny Marzetti but it's all the same.
Let me tell you that the key to this recipe is the bacon. Cooked bacon makes just about everything amazing and even though we have went through the bacon craze, I still love it with lots of dishes. Don't skip it because it adds just the right about of fat and flavor to the turkey.
Ingredients:
1 lb ground turkey (I have also used ground beef or italian sausage)
1 lb cavatappi noodles (or similar shape and size, like elbow)
1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce (or use my spaghetti sauce recipe found here)
1 large green pepper
1 large yellow onion
2 cloves garlic
3 slices bacon
1 box of button mushrooms
olive oil, kosher salt,
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (amount is optional based on how much spice you like)
Directions:
Chop all of your ingredients and put them off to the side.
Heat up a Dutch oven (or skillet) with 2-3 tablespoons olive oil on the stove with medium heat and start a large pot filled with water (for your pasta).
Add your chopped bacon, onions, and garlic to the Dutch oven. You don’t want to burn your garlic, and you want to sweat the onion slowly, and extract as much bacon fat as you can. If you like cooking on a higher heat, add the garlic when the bacon is almost finished cooking.
Add a pinch of salt (I don't use a lot), and as much crushed red pepper flakes as you want. I usually add about 1/2 tablespoon but that may be too spicy for you.
Add your ground turkey into the bacon and onions, once they have finished cooking.
Once the turkey is almost done and very little pink is left, add your mushrooms.
When the mushrooms are almost cooked through, add your green peppers and sauce.
Mix, let it simmer on medium-low for 8-10 minutes (just enough time to cook your pasta al dente in the separate pot).
If the sauce gets too thick, you can add some starchy pasta water to it. Strain your cavatappi and toss into sauce, let cook for an additional 1-2 minutes. I like to pick pasta that has ridges and curves so that they hold more of the sauce mixture while I'm taking a bite.
Serve with grated Parmesan or Asiago cheese.
Leave me a comment with your favorite term that you use for this dish! I love to see the different varieties of terms we all pick for the same thing... like soda or pop, dinner or supper...
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