March 2010

Last month in the Everyday with Rachel Ray magazine, this recipe caught my eye.  I would never have thought of mixing taco meat and their flavors with pasta.  So, I decided to give this recipe a try.

Rachel Ray’s recipe calls for using ground beef but I substituted ground turkey instead.  My husband is not a big spicy eater either so I also left out the jalapeño.

I must warn you that this recipe makes a giant amount of food.  The two of us barely made a dent into it.  So if I make this one again, I’m either going to cut the recipe in half or make sure we have other hungry eaters to help us out.

This simple and easy recipe is a tasty and fairly healthy recipe to try.  It tastes just like tacos without the mess of eating with your hands.

Turkey Taco Pasta Toss

Ingredients:

Salt and pepper
1 pound penne rigate or whole grain penne rigate pasta
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound ground beef sirloin (I used ground turkey)
1 large onion, chopped
1 large jalapeño chile—halved, seeded if desired and thinly sliced crosswise
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder (about 2 palmfuls)
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin (about 1/2 palmful)
1 tablespoon ground coriander (about a palmful)
1/4 cup tomato paste
One 12-ounce bottle beer or 1 1/2 cups chicken stock
2 cups shredded cheddar, monterey jack or any Mexican semisoft cheese
2 small plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1/4 head iceberg lettuce or 1/2 small heart romaine lettuce, chopped

Directions:

1.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt it, add the pasta and cook until al dente. Drain and return to the pot.

2.  While the pasta is working, in a large skillet, heat the EVOO, 1 turn of the pan, over medium-high heat. Add the beef and cook until browned, about 5 minutes. Add three-quarters of the onion, the jalapeño, garlic, chili powder, coriander and cumin; season with salt and pepper. Cook until the onion is softened, 6 to 7 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste for 1 minute, then stir in the beer.

3.  Add the sauce to the pasta and toss. Spoon into a serving dish, top with the cheese and tent with foil to melt the cheese, about 1 minute. Top with the remaining onion, the tomatoes and lettuce— just like tacos!

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