American Chop Suey
When we first moved to Maine and someone offered me American Chop Suey, rather than sound like s flat-lander, I simply said, "Sure, I'd love some!" I'm not sure what I really expected; translated from Cantonese Chinese, chop suey means odds and ends, so I figured it would be some kind of stir-fry but with -- I don't know -- American seasonings?
What I got was a slight variation on something that my Nana Lilian used to make when I was a kid back in NJ. Nana Lil, was responsible for the 1/4 Irish heritage that I can claim, she was way more of a crafter and obsessed with a clean house (right down to that ever-so-inviting plastic 'coating' on the parlor furniture) than she was a cook. Of the things I do remember her cooking, she made a mean boiled supper, a terrific Thanksgiving dinner, a yummy oven barbecued chicken dish and this dish that resembles what Mainers call American Chop Suey.
Most of the Maine style ACS (can't have too many acronyms in our lives) I've tasted was ground meat, elbow macaroni, the usual aromatics, and a rich heavy tomato sauce. Frankly, it seemed more Italian and actually resembled a concoction that my Pop Mike would throw together if Nana Ida left him alone near the kitchen for too long.
As usual, I digress..... back to Nana Lil's recipe which I guess should be called NJ American Chop Suey.
This version starts with a saute of garlic and minced onion followed by the addition of ground beef to brown in the pan. Once the meat and aromatics are cooked, diced peppers and onions are added. I'm pretty certain my Nana used either tomato soup concentrate or jarred tomato sauce in her version. Neither of those options pass muster with me so I use either crushed tomatoes or petite diced -- depending on how large a batch I'm making. For this batch I used a 14.5 ounce can of petite diced and about a tablespoon of tomato paste.
Here's where Nana's version differs from the Maine version of the dish, she added a really good dose of Worcestershire sauce and something to sweeten the dish -- not sure if it was sugar, molasses, or brown sugar.
Cooked elbow macaroni are added once the sauce is cooked until the peppers and second round of onions are tender. Anyway all said and done, the sauce in this version is more on the rich brown side, rather than the tomato-forward that all the Maine ACS varieties I've tasted.
The recipe I'm sharing is what I've build based on what I remember Nana's to taste like -- of course there was no official recipe handed down -- the dish doesn't have a name in my family!
Since I've been on this protein filled gluten free pasta kick, I used red lentil rotini in place of the traditional elbows.
THE RECIPE:
2T olive oil
4 cloves of garlic minced
4T minced onion
1LB ground beef
2C 1-inch chop of sweet peppers (any combo of red, green yellow)
2C 1-inch chop of onion
1 14-oz can of diced tomatoes
1T tomato paste
3/4 -1C Worcestershire sauce
2T brown sugar
A dash of Tabasco or sriracha (optional)
Salt / pepper to taste
1/2 pound of your choice of bite-sized pasta cooked and drained
Heat the oil in a stock pot
Add the minced onion and garlic and saute until they are aromatic and beginning to soften
Add the ground meat and saute until browned and cooked through
Add the tomatoes and paste and allow to simmer for a few minutes
Add the large chop peppers and onions, reduce heat and cook on low covered until the peppers and onions are tender
Stir to combine well and add the Worcestershire and sugar
Taste test and adjust salt, acid and heat
Cook the pasta while the sauce is simmering
Drain the pasta and add it to the sauce
Stir well, give it a taste and adjust salt, acid and heat again
