- I'm gonna show you how
to make an easy goulash. This is one of our family's
favorite dinner recipes. It comes together in one pot and wait until you see
how we cook the pasta. (pasta rattling) This is different from
a Hungarian goulash, which is more like a stew. This is much easier, so
comforting, and it reheats well, and I'm craving some goulash. So let's get started.
(bright music) We'll start with a little bit of prep, and one of the things I love adding to tomato-based sauces is carrot. Carrot adds a little
bit of subtle sweetness and helps to balance
the acidity of tomatoes. Plus, if you grate your carrots, no one will even notice they're there because they'll disappear into the sauce. I also love to add some fresh
celery, which is an aromatic. It'll make your sauce
taste and smell amazing. Again, finally, chop it
up and it'll disappear into the sauce as it cooks. Now, chop up an onion, and I'm
using a medium yellow onion, but you can use just about
any onion you prefer. Peel the skins and finely chop them up. This goulash recipe is so simple and uses humble ingredients,
but every ingredient is important to build layers
of flavor in the goulash. Onions and I have a longstanding
love-hate relationship. I sure do love how they taste, but I do not enjoy chopping them because they always make me cry. And last but certainly not least, we're gonna finally chop
up a few garlic cloves. I'm a big fan of using fresh garlic cloves in all of my recipes because the canned and pre-minced garlic never has as much flavor as fresh cloves. It just doesn't have that same punch. Our quick and easy veggie prep is done and we're ready to head to the stove. Set a large heavy pot or dutch
oven over medium high heat and add a tablespoon of oil. We're gonna add the ground
beef and break it up with the spatula as it
cooks for just a minute. (bright music) Now go ahead and add all
of your prepped veggies. We have our carrots, our onions, celery, and garlic of course. Continue to saute, stirring occasionally for another five minutes or
until the veggies are softened. Now, season the mixture
with salt, dried oregano, freshly ground black pepper,
and a little bit of sugar. The sugar is a surprising ingredient and a little bit goes a long way, but it really helps to amp
up the natural sweetness of tomatoes and balance the
acidity of the tomato sauce. Now you're gonna add your crushed tomatoes along with your tomato paste, also your Worcestershire
sauce, chicken stock and water. Stir everything together
and bring it to a boil. You wanna give the sauce time
for the flavors to develop, so reduce the heat to a
simmer, cover with the lid, and let that simmer for 20 minutes. Now, stirring your dry macaroni
pasta right into the sauce, and it's gonna cook in the pot. Stir the mixture occasionally, especially towards the beginning, to make sure the pasta isn't sticking to the bottom of the pot. Once the mixture is back to a simmer, cover and continue cooking
for another 20 minutes, or until the pasta reaches
your desired doneness. Keep an eye on it, especially
towards the end of cooking, and add more hot water if
needed if your pasta seems dry. To finish it off, add a quarter cup of freshly-grated Parmesan
cheese and seasoned to taste with salt and pepper. The goulash should be
super moist and saucy, so add hot water to get it
to your desired consistency. (giggles) Oh my goodness,
this smells so good, and I'm totally ready for it. Okay, not to mention, my
kids had a snow day today, and they are ready for it, okay? They've been smelling the smells too. The lovely aromas coming
out of the kitchen, and I gotta hurry through
this because they're hungry, (chuckles) and so am I. All right. Oh, look at this. Look at this. It is so saucy. Get in close. Look at this. If you like it, a little more saucy, just add a little bit more
water just to keep it nice, and loose, and moist. Look at this. Ugh. And because the pasta cooks in the sauce, it absorbs all of those amazing flavors. Every bite is so delicious. I'm telling you, it's very different than just cooking pasta in water. This is flavor packed, and I just wanna serve this
right away because I'm hungry. You can add a little bit
of Parmesan over the top of your pasta because there's
already Parmesan in it. And who doesn't like
a little extra cheese? And then we're just gonna plate this up because it is go time. Look at that. Look at that. Hot and steamy, and saucy,
and cheesy. Oh. (laughs) And beefy, I mean, this
has so much going for it. It is a meal in one. It also has veggies in it with
the carrots, and the celery, and the onion, and garlic. It's just wonderful, okay? It doesn't get much better
than this. A meal in one pot. It all cooks in one pot
because we're always thinking of the dish factor in our house. 'Cause I don't like to
do the dishes. (laughs) How about you? (laughs) Nope. (chuckles) All right. And one more scoop, because
we like to keep it generous. And then of course, we're gonna add a little bit more cheese. And I do love this cheese grater. We finally got a new
one because our old one, which we've had for years, and I think we've even
thrifted it, it finally broke. And so I'm like, "Which
one is the best one out there right now?" And I love this one by OXO,
or maybe it's pronounced Oxo. You know, I never really
knew all these years. Anyway, you put the cheese inside, and I love that it has this
little seal around here, because if there's
leftover cheese in there, it seals it and doesn't
dry out in the fridge. It's brilliant. My last one didn't have
this, and also it has a lid. So again, you just pop that on
there and it doesn't dry out, and you can just store it with the extra cheese right inside. You don't have to clean it every time, which is just like all the light bulbs. I love it. Thank you, OXO for making
a great cheese grater. And it's kind of like a
restaurant style, you know? It's fun. (laughs) The kids love it too. Okay, enough about cheese graters. Let's get into this taste test, because this goulash is
calling my name, okay? We're gonna dive right in. Get a nice, beefy, loaded bite. Oh, it is so, so saucy.
Wow, this is so satisfying. Look at this. Mm. (bright music) Mm. Wow. I mean, really all the ingredients in here are so, like, humble kitchen staples, but it comes together to make something absolutely delicious. Something that you're gonna
crave and hopefully will end up on your regular rotation. Plus it reheats really well, which I love because tomorrow's lunch
in the thermos for my kids is gonna be American goulash. That's right. (laughs) And they'll be so happy. All right, I'm gonna go
enjoy the rest of this. Also, if you love pasta recipes,
we have some great pasta and grain options in our cookbook. I hope you love every recipe you try. I will leave a link to
this in the recipe notes, and those are recipes like
our baked mac and cheese that are not anywhere
else except the book. So if you haven't already, try that one. Let me know where you spotted Sharky, and we'll see you in the next episode of "Natasha's Kitchen." (Natasha chomps and laughs)
