American Chop Suey is a (sort of) regional New England dish consisting of elbow macaroni, onions, and bell peppers in a rich meat & tomato sauce. Though no longer popular outside of New England, it has a long history all over the country, with wide variations in preparation. This is the version commonly found in New England today, and what I grew up eating.
Ingredients
- 1 lb elbow macaroni
- 1/2 – 1lb ground beef (for a slightly different flavor profile, I sometimes do 1/2 ground pork and 1/2 ground beef)
- 1 can ground tomato
- 1 can Pastene tomato paste
- 1 can Pastene “Kitchen Ready” ground peeled tomatoes
- 1 large yellow onion
- 1 – 2 large green bell peppers
- 2 – 3 large garlic cloves
- Olive oil
- Parsley
- Onion powder
- Italian Seasoning (optional)
- Salt & pepper
Recipe
There’s two ways to prep this – the slow way and the fast way. This recipe can be used for both, the only variation is cook time. Traditionally, this was a quick weeknight meal my mom would throw together on days there wasn’t time to make a proper long-simmering red sauce, but I prefer the texture of the ground beef with a long simmer.
Veggie Prep
For either cooking method, the first think you want to do is prep and brown your peppers and onions. Chop both into good size pieces (1.5-2″ square). Pre-heat a large, deep sauté pan over medium heat until water droplets bounce around without immediately evaporating. Add a drizzle of vegetable oil.
For a quick cook: Add both to the pan and sauté until just browned. Remove from pan and set aside.
For long cook: Add the onions first and cook until softened and beginning to brown. For more sweetness in the end product, go all the way and caramelize the onions, which could take up to 40 minutes if done right, and which will require you to lower the heat. After the onions are cooked to your liking, add the green peppers and cook until they start to brown a bit then remove both from the pan and set aside.
Meat & Garlic
Once the onions and peppers are cooked and removed from the pan, add your ground beef, breaking it up with a spatula. Sprinkle some salt on top and cook the meat until browned, stirring frequently to break up large chunks.
Push the meat to one side of the pan and reduce the heat. Crush, chop, smash, or grate (your choice, really) 2-3 large cloves of garlic. More is good too. Measure with your heart. Add the garlic to the pan (with a little bit of oil if the pan is dry) and cook until fragrant (1-2 minutes) stirring frequently to prevent burning.
The Sauce
Add the tomato paste to the pan and stir it, the garlic, and meat together. Simmer (still on low heat) for several minutes, stirring frequently to prevent burning the tomato paste. Add the “Kitchen-Ready” tomatoes and stir.
Add seasoning to taste*: salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, parsley, Italian seasoning (optional: my mom used this in hers, I do not. I don’t notice much difference without it).
*To Taste here means add 2-3 shakes, taste, and keep adding stuff until it tastes good.
For a quick cook: Put the onions and peppers back in the pan and stir. Simmer, covered, for about 10 minutes.
For a long cook: Fill the empty “Kitchen-Ready” tomato can with water and add that to the sauce. Stir. Simmer, covered, for several hours. Often I’ll get this on the stove around 9am for a 5pm meal. Stir frequently and remove the lid for the last hour of cooking to thicken the sauce. Add the onions and peppers back in for the last half hour or so of cook time.
Pasta
Since the pasta will finish cooking in the sauce, we want to under-cook it some. Your pasta box will say the cook time on the box is for “al-dente” pasta. This is a lie. You want to undercook your macaroni by a minute or two for this dish. So if your pasta says it will take 8 minutes, cook it for 6 and taste. It’s done when there’s still some bite and you can see a little white line inside the pasta if you bit it in half.
In either the quick or long cook method, you want to cook your pasta just before serving. Once cooked, drain it and add it to the sauce. Stir. Cover and let sit on low for about 2 minutes.
Serve with grated Parmesan or Romano cheese.