Thursday, March 8, 2012

A Great Big Skillet Full

I made this dish for dinner last night and wanted to share it with you. It's from Betty Crocker's Outdoor Cook Book, copyrighted 1961. My copy is held together with a thick rubber band because both front and back covers have long ago fallen away from the pages of the book.

It's a great meal for a casual company dinner . . . as popular as a favorite soup would be, but much easier to serve. The name of the dish is Tagliarini and in the book it's described as "a hearty Italian skillet dish with noodles, meat, tomatoes, corn and olives." (I wonder what "tagliarini" means in Italian. Anybody know? Jane? Ice Man?)

TAGLIARINI

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 lb. ground beef
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
Few grains cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1 medium onion, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium green pepper, chopped (about 3/4 cup)
2 cans (15-16 oz. each) Italian-style tomatoes (I use stewed tomatoes.)
1 can (10 oz.) whole kernel corn with liquid (I use 2 cups frozen corn and one cup
water.)
1 can (7 oz.) pitted ripe olives, drained
4 oz. (1-1/2 cups) noodles, uncooked
1/2 to 1 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese

Heat olive oil in large heavy skillet. Brown meat.

(Above picture is with remaining ingredients just added but not mixed)

Add remaining ingredients except cheese and cook covered over low heat, stirring occasionally, for about 25 minutes. Remove lid from skillet and cook another 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle with cheese and fold carefully into the mixture and serve. 8 servings.

If you don't have a really large skillet, you might want to make this in a medium sized stock pot because it does make a big bunch. I used my biggest skillet and it was a little difficult to stir because the skillet was so full.

Because there were just three of us for dinner last night, I have plenty leftover, but that's a good thing as my husband LOVES it and it tastes really good reheated.

15 comments:

Jane @ Hard Work Homestead said...

Well 'tagliare' means to cut, so I think that is some version of the verb. I notice you used chopped a lot in the recipe, so maybe it means something like that. But remember, most of the words my Husband knows are for food and swear words. If you want to call someone a nasty name, I can help you out with that -NO problem;)

odiie said...

Guess what we're having for supper? Thanks.

Lorie said...

Mama Pea, that look soooo good. Tried your lentil soup recipe this week and my family loved it. I did add a few more veg from the garden, but it was great with home baked rolls. Thanks again for sharing. Can not wait to try this one!
Lorie

Mama Pea said...

Jane - Upon further investigation, I found "tagliarini" defined as "a long, flat, narrowly cut egg noodle." So your guess was right in the ball park. I'll keep The Ice Man's talent for nasty Italian names on file.

odiie - You're welcome! Who knew long, flat, narrowly cut egg noodles would form another bond between us!!

Lorie - Oh, so glad the lentil soup turned out good for you. Yupper, you sure could add whatever garden veggies to it that you wanted. Hmmmm, corn sounds good to me. Sliced, fresh zucchini, too! (Guess we'll have to wait for that, huh?)

Susan said...

I'm sure I can find some 'alternative' noodles, or pasta or something. This would be the perfect make-on-Sunday meal that I could then enjoy all week long!

Jenyfer Matthews said...

That looks great :)

judy said...

looks tasty!

Wendy said...

This looks really yummy!

Judy T said...

Mmm.... That looks divine. Thanks for sharing.

Judy

Erin said...

Looks good! I'm a huge fan of one skillet meals :) Especially ones with leftovers!

Karen L. said...

Looks like I caught your "trouble posting" disease but here goes another try .... I make a dish very similar to this but it's called Spanish Noodles. We love it especially on a cold evening. My husband is half Italian so he might prefer the name you used. (Hmmm, I think I used to have that BC outdoor cookbook but I may have gotten rid of it when we last moved.) I do love one pan meals. Oh and you are so right; this dish is actually even better reheated in my opinion. The flavors seem to come together and taste better. OK, here goes .... hitting the "publish" button and keeping my fingers crossed.

Mama Pea said...

Susan - It wouldn't even taste bad without the noodles! (Although pasta lover that I am, I would miss them.)

Jen, judy, Wendy, Judy - Thank you!

Erin - Yup, I keep thinking I need to find more good "skillet" meals 'cause in the heat of summer, I sure don't want to light the oven!

Karen L. - I know of people who don't eat leftovers, and I always think they're missing so much flavor because there a lot of meals that I think taste better the next day!

Looks like you got through. Sure is frustrating (times 2!) when you can't get through though!!

Anonymous said...

Yum!!! Definitely adding this to my recipe box:)

judy said...

You have great word's of wisdom and and thoughtfulness over at "Lets Get Real"I don't write all the drama that is at my house on everyone's blog,but glad I have my friends to share it with,with life ,there comes reality and at my house a lot of drama[ the thing I dread the most [ drama ] and that also gives me the most stress!]

Mama Pea said...

Stephanie - Guys seem to like it so I'll be it will be a hit with your two fast-growing boys!

judy - So sorry to hear things are not going well at your house. Keeping our fingers crossed that all turns much better SOON!

Thanks for your kinds words on what I wrote on Patty's blog.