Hamburger Buddy

By lbgtdep

Active Time: 40 Minutes
Total Time: 40 Minutes
6 servings, about 1 1/3 cups each
Very finely chopping onion, mushrooms and carrots in the food processor is not only fast--it makes the vegetables hard to detect for picky eaters. They also form the base for the sauce of this ground beef skillet supper. Make it a meal: Serve with a green salad.

Ingredients

• 3 cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
• 2 medium carrots, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 10 ounces white mushrooms, large ones cut in half
• 1 large onion, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 1 pound 90%-lean ground beef
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 2 cups water
• 1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium beef broth, divided
• 8 ounces whole-wheat elbow noodles (2 cups)
• 2 tablespoons worcestershire sauce
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or chives for garnish

Preparation

Step 1

Fit a food processor with the steel blade attachment. With the motor running, drop garlic through the feed tube and process until minced, then add carrots and mushrooms and process until finely chopped. Turn it off, add onion, and pulse until roughly chopped.


Cook beef in a large straight-sided skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high heat, breaking it up with a wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in the chopped vegetables, thyme, salt and pepper and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables start to soften and the mushrooms release their juices, 5 to 7 minutes.


Stir in water, 1 1/2 cups broth, noodles and Worcestershire sauce; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is tender, 8 to 10 minutes.


Whisk flour with the remaining 1/4 cup broth in a small bowl until smooth; stir into the hamburger mixture. Stir in the sour cream. Simmer, stirring often, until the sauce is thickened, about 2 minutes. Serve sprinkled with parsley (or chives), if desired.

Rating: 5
by: midge, MB Reviewed: 09/26/2008
this recipe was excellent!! I made it twice now and made very slight changes. I do not process nothing I rough chop it all I also cut the thyme in half and the worcestershire in half I also plop and bit of sour cream on the top instead of the parsley/chives all in all It was to dye for never will I use another hamburger helper box again


this was great as we had all the ingredients already, except the fresh mushrooms, which i substituted for a can of cream of mushroom soup. it helped thicken the sauce and negated the need for sour cream. i also used a purple onion instead of yellow, and rotini instead of elbow pasta. served with a side of steamed broccoli. the 3 yr old liked it.