Description
A fancy, creamy twist on American chop suey made with bacon, fresh rosemary and basil, and melted ricotta and mozzarella cheese.
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 pound ground beef or sweet Italian sausage
- 1 pound elbow macaroni
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 8 ounce ball fresh mozzarella
- 5–6 tablespoons ricotta cheese
- 4 strips bacon, chopped
- 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and chopped
- 1/4 cup fresh basil
- 2 sprigs fresh rosemary, removed from sprig and minced
- 1/2 cup cream
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- Dash, crushed red pepper flakes
- tablespoon of sugar
- Dash of Worcestershire sauce
- Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- Fully cook bacon in a cast iron skillet* on medium heat, about 2-3 minutes per side or until nicely browned. Remove from skillet and place on paper-towel lined plate to drain, then chop.
- Discard the majority of the bacon fat, leaving about 2 tablespoons left in the skillet. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and simmer for 1 minute. Add ground beef, breaking up the chunks of meat with a spoon. Cook until browned and no longer pink, about 5- 7 minutes. Add rosemary and basil, season with salt and pepper to taste, and mix well.
- Add the canned tomatoes with all juice, tomato sauce, Worcestershire, tomato paste, bacon, red pepper flakes and sugar. Simmer while you cook the pasta.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook until al dente. Strain and mix with the macaroni. Stir in cream. Top evenly with chucks of mozzarella and dollops of ricotta cheese. Bake for 5-7 minutes or until cheese melts. Optional last step, turn the broiler on high to lightly brown the top of the cheese. just note, it will brown very quickly, so monitor closely. Serve immediately.
Notes
If sauce seems too thick, add a splash of water or white wine.
If not including bacon, melt 3 tablespoons of butter in place of bacon fat.
You don’t need a skillet to make this recipe. You can use a large pan and transfer to an oven safe dish to bake. Alternatively, you can use an oven-safe pan.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 664
- Sugar: 8g
- Sodium: 884mg
- Fat: 20.2g
- Saturated Fat: 9.1g
- Carbohydrates: 57.9g
- Fiber: 4.4g
- Protein: 41.3g
- Cholesterol: 109mg
Keywords: American chop suey recipe, pasta recipes
