One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta with lots-of-veg

One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta is a giant, bubbly pasta made with beef and a stunning quantity of hidden greens in a Cajun flavoured tomato pasta sauce, topped with oozy cheese. Serves 7 to eight and makes for glorious leftovers!

A whole one-pot meal with a lot of hidden greens

Right here right now with a glowing new recipe I created with mid-week cooking in thoughts: a giant, effervescent Cajun pasta made with beef and a stunning quantity of hidden greens, so you possibly can serve this as an entire meal. It’s actually economical (500g/1lb beef -> 7 to eight servings), with daring beefy Cajun flavours and smothered with oozy cheese.

The great quantity of Cajun spices used on this recipe lets us pack in greens with out disappointingly diluting the flavour of the dish. You recognize precisely the place I’m coming from, I do know you do!!

On this recipe, we’ve received a carrot, zucchini, and capsicum (bell pepper) with 500g/1 lb of beef, plus there’s additionally 800g/28 oz canned tomato and an onion (these depend as greens too!) All these greens not solely boosts vitamin but additionally stretches the dish to serve 7-8 folks as a substitute of the same old 4-5.

A lot veg. However attempt to inform me you don’t wish to eat this!! ⬇️

Cajun pasta – not genuine, and that’s okay!

In case you’re questioning, no, Cajun pasta isn’t authentically Cajun. The truth is, Cajuns usually use rice. Nevertheless, combining Cajun spices with pasta is well-liked in America and makes for a brilliant tasty dish. So I’m completely on board with it!

Substances on this One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta

I’ve chosen to make use of grated carrot and zucchini which blends in seamlessly into the pasta sauce, plus a chopped capsicum (bell pepper) which is on theme for the Cajun flavours on this dish.

The pasta add-ins

Beef – I’ve designed this recipe round beef and I did discover I had the tweak the amount of the Cajun spice mix to get the suitable steadiness of flavour. So when you might substitute with hen, turkey or pork, you may discover the seasoning just a little on the sunshine aspect so I’d enhance the Cajun seasoning a bit. And doubtless add a bit extra fats too, else the mince may appear just a little dried out.

Lamb doesn’t get a point out right here as a result of I really feel like the mix with Cajun spices in a pasta sounds a bit odd? I may very well be unsuitable.
Greens – Zucchini and carrot, grated with a field grater so it disappears into the pasta sauce. Plus a crimson capsicum (bell pepper), chopped somewhat than grating as a result of it could flip into watery mush.
Onion – This positively counts in direction of your vegetable quota! Plus it types an necessary a part of the flavour base for this pasta.
Garlic – The place there may be onion, there may be nearly at all times garlic. Truly, there may be nearly at all times garlic even when onion isn’t current!
Kidney beans – This bulks out the recipe with extra dietary worth than utilizing extra pasta, in addition to including a unique texture to the dish. It’s additionally on theme as kidney beans are utilized in Cajun dishes – like crimson beans and rice. 🙂

cajun pasta sauce

The important thing to success with this One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta for completely cooked pasta and sufficient sauce so it’s bubbly and saucy somewhat than dry and stodgy is to make use of sufficient liquid (inventory, canned tomato and water). You can be stunned how a lot the pasta absorbs!

Crushed canned tomato – For the pasta sauce. We use 800g/28 oz which makes this pasta good and saucy!
Hen inventory/broth and water – The liquid for cooking the pasta. We’d like a good quantity (1 litre / 1 quart) as a result of pasta absorbs a stunning quantity of liquid! I exploit a mix as a result of utilizing simply water makes the sauce just a little bland, however utilizing all hen inventory somewhat than equal components water and inventory didn’t enhance the flavour. So why incur the additional value of utilizing all hen inventory when water is free? 🙂
Tomato paste – Simply 2 tablespoons offers the sauce a tomato flavour enhance, and thickens it barely. With out, the sauce is just a bit on the sunshine aspect of tomato-flavour, however I’d nonetheless make this if I used to be out.
Do-it-yourself Cajun Spice mix – I like to make use of a home made Cajun spice mix as a result of the standard of Cajun spice blends varies a lot from model to model. Although you probably have a very good one, like Slap Ya Mama, be at liberty to substitute with that.

Listed below are the spices you want for the home made Cajun spice mix:
- Dried thyme – substitute with recent leaves, chopped
- Paprika – candy/common, not smoked or spicy
- Garlic powder – has an earthier flavour than recent garlic. Substitute with extra onion powder, or 2 additional garlic cloves.
- Onion powder – has an earthier flavour than recent onion, Substitute with extra garlic powder.
- Cayenne pepper – optionally available, for delicate heat. Be happy to go away it out, or substitute with chilli powder (ie pure chilli, not the US non-spicy chili mix) or a touch of your favorite scorching sauce.
- Salt and pepper
Cheese – For melting on the floor. I like to make use of Colby as a result of it melts simply (helpful for recipes the place we use residual warmth to soften the cheese) and doesn’t go greasy. However any melting cheese shall be wonderful right here. Personally I don’t use mozzarella as a result of it doesn’t have fairly sufficient flavour. Or, if I did, I’d add a very good sprinkle of parmesan on prime.

How you can make this One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta

Utilizing the one-pot methodology of cooking pasta the place raw pasta is cooked within the pasta sauce doesn’t work for all recipes. But it surely works extraordinarily properly for some – like this one!

The bonus, aside from much less washing up, is that the pasta absorbs the flavour of the sauce. Additional yum issue!

Shred the carrot and zucchini utilizing an ordinary field grater. I wish to grate them so the strands are shorter somewhat than longer (they disguise higher!). I don’t peel the carrot (free vitamin).
Prepare dinner – Use a big heavy primarily based pot with a lid. I exploit a 24cm / 9.45″ forged iron pot which will get very full!

Warmth the oil over excessive warmth, and prepare dinner the onion and garlic first to flavour the oil. Then prepare dinner the meat, breaking it up as you go, till it modifications from crimson to brown.

Greens and spices – Subsequent, prepare dinner the carrot and zucchini. They are going to launch water at first, however then the water will evaporate. After 2 minutes when they’re partially cooked, add the capsicum and prepare dinner for one more 2 minutes till the carrot and zucchinis wilted.

Then add the tomato paste and all of the Cajun spices. Prepare dinner for one more 1 minute to take the bitter uncooked edge off the tomato paste and get the spices all via the greens and beef.
Sauce and pasta – Add the canned tomato, water (I exploit the water to swill out the tomato cans), hen inventory and beans. Give it a very good stir and convey it as much as the simmer earlier than including the pasta.

Prepare dinner quarter-hour – As soon as the liquid comes again as much as the simmer, cowl with the lid after which decrease the warmth to medium. We would like the liquid simmering, however not effervescent madly (too robust, base will catch) nor nonetheless which suggests it isn’t scorching sufficient (the pasta will simply be sitting there bloating in scorching liquid somewhat than cooking).
Stir each jiffy to make sure the bottom doesn’t catch. Because it cooks, the liquid will get absorbed by the pasta.

The pasta is prepared when it’s nearly cooked (ie centre remains to be a bit firmer than you need). Will probably be somewhat watery nonetheless which is what we wish. The pasta will end cooking and the surplus liquid shall be absorbed within the subsequent step! **Cease right here if making forward, see field beneath for ideas.**

Cheese it! Working rapidly (so we don’t lose warmth), give the pasta one huge stir, easy the floor, then sprinkle the floor with cheese.
3 minutes – Cowl with the lid and switch the range off. Go away the pot on the range for 3 minutes to let the residual warmth soften the cheese. Then carry the lid and be greeted with THIS DELERIOUSLY DELICIOUS SIGHT! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Serve instantly, whereas the pasta is at its peak, scorching and oozy. As a result of as with all pastas, the longer this sits round, the much less saucy it turns into because the pasta will proceed to soak up liquid.

Although honestly, it doesn’t trouble me even when it’s not as saucy as freshly made. I used to be fortunately warming up leftovers and consuming this for breakfast 4 days later, then I made one other couple of batches “simply to examine it another time” and froze them to donate via RecipeTin Meals (my meals financial institution).

I believe that is One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta is one other recipe ideally suited so as to add to our RTM rotation – nutritious, economical, simple to scale up, retains properly and rattling tasty! – Nagi x

PS The token inexperienced onion sprinkle is in no way necessary, simply my try so as to add a splash of inexperienced to the molten blanket of yellow.

PPS For these , I did a publish on the Prime 10 meals we make at RTM -> Prime 10 recipes we make at RecipeTin Meals. It’s a helpful listing for recipes that are perfect for making forward, freezing, healthful, economical and the kind of meals everyone loves. We are likely to keep away from issues like bold-flavoured spicy Vindaloo curry at RTM! 🙂