One Pot Creamy Tomato and Ground Beef Pasta

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp EVOO (divided)
• 1 lb ground beef (85% lean)
• ½ tsp black pepper (freshly ground preferred)
• 2 eggs
• 3 oz parm
• 1 medium yellow onion or large shallot (diced)
• 1 tbsp garlic (minced)
• 1 tbsp Calabrian chili paste (less or more to taste)
• 1 6 oz can tomato paste
• 4 cups beef bone broth
• 1 lb pasta of choice (I love shellbows)
• 1/2 cup “cottage cream” (or heavy cream – see notes)

Directions

1. Brown the beef. Bring a large, wide saute pan or pot to medium high heat, then add 1 tbsp of the oil. When the oil shimmers and looks noticeably thinner, add the ground beef in one or two large pieces and press down to spread it out till it’s about 1” thick. You want as much of the meat making contact with the pan, but don’t want the patty being too thin. Don’t touch it! Once the meat easily comes off the bottom of the pan, flip and repeat. While the other side of the meat is caramelizing, add your black pepper to any open space in the pan and stir to combine with the oil. Stir frequently to prevent burning. Once the other side of your beef is caramelized, season generously with salt, turn the heat to medium low, break into small pieces and stir to combine with the pepper. Once all the meat is just cooked through, transfer to a bowl using a slotted spoon and set aside.
2. Cook the aromatics. Add the other tbsp of oil to the pan. Once shimmering, add the diced onion, season with some salt and stir. Cook, stirring occasionally until translucent, then stir in the garlic and calabrian chili paste and cook another minute, until fragrant. Make space in the center of the pan and add all the tomato paste, spreading it out to maximize contact with the pan. Season the paste with a little salt and caramelize for a minute or two (this also cooks off any tinny taste from the can), then stir the tomato paste into the garlic, onion and chilis. I like to continue to caramelize it a bit more from here (another few minutes, stirring occasionally).
3. Cook the pasta. Whisk the bone broth into the tomato paste mixture to create a tomatoey broth and bring to a gentle boil, then season with a little more salt and add the pasta. Give the pasta an initial stir, then boil, stirring fairly frequently to prevent sticking, until al dente. I like to somewhat cover my pot as well to create a little steam for the pasta at the top to cook better, just don’t cover completely because you want the liquid in the pan to reduce. If your liquid has cooked off and the pasta isn’t quite done yet, add a little more bone broth or water to finish cooking to the texture you like.
4. Prep the egg mixture and cottage cream (if using). While the pasta is cooking, to a medium bowl, crack your eggs and add your freshly grated parm. Whisk until homogenous, then set aside. For the cottage cream, blend equal parts cottage cheese and heavy cream, then set aside. You’ll only need ½ a cup of this mixture total for the recipe, so make however much you want!
5. Finish and serve. When the pasta is al dente, turn the heat off, then add the ground beef back to the pan and stir to combine. Then add your egg and cheese mixture and stir vigorously to combine. The residual heat from the pasta will gently cook the egg, melt the cheese, and create a luscious sauce. If you don’t stir it in quickly enough, it could scramble. Finally, add the cottage cream (or heavy cream), and stir to combine. Taste and add more salt, pepper, or parm if you’d like, then serve immediately! I love mine topped with a mountain of parm, but you do you! ;)

Notes

• If making “cottage cream” – it’s basically just half cottage cheese and half heavy cream. You’ll only need a quarter cup of each for this recipe, but I usually make a tubful because it’s easier to blend with a little more volume.

Micronutrient Highlights

74% vitamin B12, 57% zinc, 36% selenium, 28% vitamin B3, 26% choline, 25% vitamin B6 + phosphorus, 22% vitamin B2, 21% iron