CARAMELIZED ONION PASTA w/ GROUND BEEF

Ingredients:

• 1 kg lean ground beef
• Cooking spray
• Salt, black pepper, and garlic powder (all to taste)

Instructions:

1. Add cooking spray to a large pan on medium-high heat
2. Add ground beef and break it up rigorously with a wooden spoon until fully cooked (takes around ~ 10 min)
3. Season to taste with seasonings listed
4. Remove from pan once cooked (will be reintroduced later)

Ingredients:

• 350 g pasta of choice (small pasta works best for this recipe)
• 4-6 medium yellow onions
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 3 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup 5% cream
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and black pepper (to taste)

Instructions:

1. Add hot/boiling water to a large pot on high heat to re-boil the water (ensure it’s enough volume to cover pasta)
2. While water boils and ground beef is cooking (see above), finely dice the onions and garlic cloves
3. Once water comes up to a rolling boil, add a lot of salt (big pinch) followed by the pasta. Cook according to package instructions (tip 1: mix pasta well for the first 5-7 min to ensure they do not stick to pan/each other) (tip 2: make sure to save around a cup of pasta water before draining)
4. To the same pan used to cook the ground beef on medium-high heat, add olive oil and diced onion
5. Cook onions for 10-15 min until caramelized (tip: keep heat on high and add small splashes of water periodically to deglaze the pan and ensure onions don’t burn – this will speed up the caramelization)
6. Once caramelized, drop heat to medium and make a well in the centre before adding minced garlic. Leave garlic untouched for ~ 30 s before mixing well to incorporate
7. Add tomato paste and follow same tips as garlic
8. After 1-2 min, add cream (and pasta water if needed) and mix well to incorporate
9. Add ground beef and pasta and (and more pasta water if needed), mix well and serve to enjoy!