There were no microwaves when my mom made this, so she did it on the stove top. She never gave us the recipe and I have discovered it through trial and error. You never forget the taste! I started with a recipe in a microwave cookbook and have adjusted the ingredients over time. If anyone is home when you are cooking, you will have company in the kitchen! Serve with Caesar salad, oven-baked garlic butter French bread and red wine. Microwave temperatures vary, so keep checking to see if these power levels work for you.
Ingredients
- uncooked elbow macaroni: 1 pack (8 ounce pack)
- ground beef: 1 pound
- onion: 1 cup (diced)
- celery: 1 cup (sliced)
- garlic: 1 Tbsp (minced)
- tomatoes: 1 can (14.5 ounce can, diced)
- tomato sauce: 1 can (10 ounce can)
- sugar: 1 Tbsp
- paprika: 1 Tbsp
- oregano: 1 tsp (dried)
- caraway seed: 0.25 tsp
- pinch cayenne pepper: 1 piece (to taste)
- salt: 1 tsp
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Bring a pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni, and cook until tender, about 8 minutes. Drain.
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Meanwhile, crumble the ground beef into a 2 quart or larger casserole dish. Add the onion, celery and garlic. Cook in the microwave on High for 5 to 6 minutes, or until beef is no longer pink. Stir once during cooking. Drain off the grease.
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Stir the tomatoes, tomato sauce and sugar into the beef, and season with paprika, oregano, caraway seed, cayenne pepper and salt. Cover, and cook in the microwave on power level 8 for about 14 minutes, or until celery is tender and the flavors have blended.
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Remove from the microwave, and mix in the cooked macaroni. Cook for 2 to 3 more minutes, until heated through. Serve.
