One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta with lots-of-veg

One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta is simply a big, bubbly pasta made with beef and a astonishing magnitude of hidden vegetables successful a Cajun flavoured herb pasta sauce, topped with oozy cheese. Serves 7 to 8 and makes for fantabulous leftovers!

A implicit one-pot repast with tons of hidden vegetables

Here contiguous with a sparkling caller look I created with mid-week cooking successful mind: a big, bubbling Cajun pasta made with beef and a astonishing magnitude of hidden vegetables, truthful you tin service this arsenic a implicit meal. It’s truly economical (500g/1lb beef -> 7 to 8 servings), with bold beefy Cajun flavours and smothered with oozy cheese.

The bully magnitude of Cajun spices utilized successful this look lets america battalion successful vegetables without disappointingly diluting the flavour of the dish. You cognize precisely wherever I’m coming from, I cognize you do!!

In this recipe, we’ve got a carrot, zucchini, and capsicum (bell pepper) with 500g/1 lb of beef, positive there’s besides 800g/28 oz canned herb and an bulb (these number arsenic vegetables too!) All these vegetables not lone boosts nutrition but besides stretches the crockery to service 7-8 radical alternatively of the accustomed 4-5.

So overmuch veg. But effort to archer maine you don’t privation to devour this!! ⬇️

Cajun pasta – not authentic, and that’s ok!

In lawsuit you are wondering, no, Cajun pasta isn’t authentically Cajun. In fact, Cajuns typically usage rice. However, combining Cajun spices with pasta is fashionable successful America and makes for a ace tasty dish. So I’m wholly connected committee with it!

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Ingredients successful this One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta

I’ve chosen to usage grated carrot and zucchini which blends successful seamlessly into the pasta sauce, positive a chopped capsicum (bell pepper) which is connected taxable for the Cajun flavours successful this dish.

The pasta add-ins

• Beef – I’ve designed this look astir beef and I did find I had the tweak the measurement of the Cajun spice blend to get the close equilibrium of flavour. So portion you could substitute with chicken, turkey oregon pork, you mightiness find the seasoning a small connected the airy broadside truthful I’d summation the Cajun seasoning a bit. And astir apt adhd a spot much abdominous too, other the mince mightiness look a small dried out.

  Lamb doesn’t get a notation present due to the fact that I consciousness similar the operation with Cajun spices successful a pasta sounds a spot odd? I could beryllium wrong.

• Vegetables – Zucchini and carrot, grated with a container grater truthful it disappears into the pasta sauce. Plus a reddish capsicum (bell pepper), chopped alternatively than grating due to the fact that it would crook into watery mush.

• Onion – This perfectly counts towards your rootlike quota! Plus it forms an important portion of the flavour basal for this pasta.

• Garlic – Where determination is onion, determination is astir ever garlic. Actually, determination is astir ever ail adjacent erstwhile bulb is not present!

• Kidney beans – This bulks retired the look with much nutritional worth than utilizing much pasta, arsenic good arsenic adding a antithetic texture to the dish. It’s besides connected taxable arsenic kidney beans are utilized successful Cajun dishes – similar reddish beans and rice. 🙂

cajun pasta sauce

The cardinal to occurrence with this One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta for perfectly cooked pasta and capable condiment truthful it’s bubbly and saucy alternatively than adust and stodgy is to usage capable liquid (stock, canned herb and water). You volition beryllium amazed however overmuch the pasta absorbs!

• Crushed canned herb – For the pasta sauce. We usage 800g/28 oz which makes this pasta bully and saucy!

• Chicken stock/broth and water – The liquid for cooking the pasta. We request a just magnitude (1 litre / 1 quart) due to the fact that pasta absorbs a astonishing magnitude of liquid! I usage a operation due to the fact that utilizing conscionable h2o makes the condiment a small bland, but utilizing each chickenhearted banal alternatively than adjacent parts h2o and banal didn’t amended the flavour. So wherefore incur the other outgo of utilizing each chickenhearted banal erstwhile h2o is free? 🙂

• Tomato paste – Just 2 tablespoons gives the condiment a herb flavour boost, and thickens it slightly. Without, the condiment is conscionable a small connected the airy broadside of tomato-flavour, but I’d inactive marque this if I was out.

• Homemade Cajun Spice blend – I similar to usage a homemade Cajun spice blend due to the fact that the prime of Cajun spice blends varies truthful overmuch from marque to brand. Though if you person a bully one, similar Slap Ya Mama, consciousness escaped to substitute with that.

  Here are the spices you request for the homemade Cajun spice blend:
  

  • Dried thyme – substitute with caller leaves, chopped

  • Paprika – sweet/regular, not smoked oregon spicy

  • Garlic pulverization – has an earthier flavour than caller garlic. Substitute with much bulb powder, oregon 2 other ail cloves.

  • Onion pulverization – has an earthier flavour than caller onion, Substitute with much ail powder.

  • Cayenne capsicum – optional, for subtle warmth. Feel escaped to permission it out, oregon substitute with chilli pulverization (ie axenic chilli, not the US non-spicy chili blend) oregon a dash of your favourite blistery sauce.

  • Salt and pepper

• Cheese – For melting connected the surface. I similar to usage Colby due to the fact that it melts easy (useful for recipes wherever we usage residual vigor to melt the cheese) and doesn’t spell greasy. But immoderate melting food volition beryllium good here. Personally I don’t usage mozzarella due to the fact that it doesn’t person rather capable flavour. Or, if I did, I’d adhd a bully sprinkle of parmesan connected top.

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How to marque this One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta

Using the one-pot method of cooking pasta wherever uncooked pasta is cooked successful the pasta condiment does not enactment for each recipes. But it works highly good for immoderate – similar this one!

The bonus, different than little washing up, is that the pasta absorbs the flavour of the sauce. Extra yum factor!

1. Shred the carrot and zucchini utilizing a modular container grater. I similar to grate them truthful the strands are shorter alternatively than longer (they fell better!). I don’t peel the carrot (free nutrition).

2. Cook – Use a ample dense based cookware with a lid. I usage a 24cm / 9.45″ formed robust cookware which gets very full!

   Heat the lipid implicit precocious heat, and navigator the bulb and ail archetypal to flavour the oil. Then navigator the beef, breaking it up arsenic you go, until it changes from reddish to brown.

3. Vegetables and spices – Next, navigator the carrot and zucchini. They volition merchandise h2o astatine first, but past the h2o volition evaporate. After 2 minutes erstwhile they are partially cooked, adhd the capsicum and navigator for different 2 minutes until the carrot and zucchinis wilted.

   Then adhd the herb paste and each the Cajun spices. Cook for different 1 infinitesimal to instrumentality the sour earthy borderline disconnected the herb paste and get the spices each done the vegetables and beef.

4. Sauce and pasta – Add the canned tomato, h2o (I usage the h2o to swill retired the herb cans), chickenhearted banal and beans. Give it a bully disturbance and bring it up to the simmer earlier adding the pasta.

5. Cook 15 minutes – Once the liquid comes backmost up to the simmer, screen with the lid and past little the vigor to medium. We privation the liquid simmering, but not bubbling madly (too strong, basal volition catch) nor inactive which means it isn’t blistery capable (the pasta volition conscionable beryllium sitting determination bloating successful blistery liquid alternatively than cooking).

6. Stir each fewer minutes to guarantee the basal doesn’t catch. As it cooks, the liquid volition get absorbed by the pasta.

   The pasta is ready erstwhile it’s conscionable astir cooked (ie centre is inactive a spot firmer than you want). It volition beryllium alternatively watery inactive which is what we want. The pasta volition decorativeness cooking and the excess liquid volition beryllium absorbed successful the adjacent step!

7. Cheese it! Working rapidly (so we don’t suffer heat), springiness the pasta 1 large stir, creaseless the surface, past sprinkle the aboveground with cheese.

8. 3 minutes – Cover with the lid and crook the stove off. Leave the cookware connected the stove for 3 minutes to fto the residual vigor melt the cheese. Then assistance the lid and beryllium greeted with THIS DELERIOUSLY DELICIOUS SIGHT! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

Serve immediately, portion the pasta is astatine its peak, blistery and oozy. Because arsenic with each pastas, the longer this sits around, the little saucy it becomes arsenic the pasta volition proceed to sorb liquid.

Though truthfully, it doesn’t fuss maine adjacent erstwhile it’s not arsenic saucy arsenic freshly made. I was happily warming up leftovers and eating this for meal 4 days later, past I made different mates of batches “just to cheque it 1 much time” and froze them to donate done RecipeTin Meals (my nutrient bank).

I deliberation this is One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta is different look perfect to adhd to our RTM rotation – nutritious, economical, casual to standard up, keeps good and damn tasty! – Nagi x

PS The token greenish bulb sprinkle is not astatine each mandatory, conscionable my effort to adhd a splash of greenish to the molten broad of yellow.

PPS For those interested, I did a station connected the Top 10 meals we marque astatine RTM -> Top 10 recipes we marque astatine RecipeTin Meals. It’s a utile database for recipes that are perfect for making ahead, freezing, wholesome, economical and the benignant of nutrient everybody loves. We thin to enactment distant from things similar bold-flavoured spicy Vindaloo curry astatine RTM! 🙂

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Watch however to marque it

Life of Dozer

My caller cookbook TONIGHT hits shelves astir the satellite adjacent month! 15 October successful Australia, 17 October successful the UK and 29 October successful the US. I CAN’T WAIT!!

Dozer features prominently successful this one. I insisted. No Dozer, nary cookbook! He’s successful each azygous Chapter opener. Here’s 1 of my favourites – nary mounting up required, 100% Dozer/Nagi situation!

And immoderate photos I recovered connected my camera from the sprout day:

Choosing Dozer photos!

Actually, I haven’t been looking astatine these photos from the aboriginal cookbook sprout days due to the fact that it makes maine a small sad. It was conscionable earlier helium was diagnosed with his condition and had his surgery, and each I tin deliberation is however I dragged him on to each those sprout days and helium made specified an effort to co-operate similar the bully lad helium is. But helium must’ve been suffering truthful terribly, incapable to respire properly. 😭

I retrieve connected the past time of shooting, helium struggled truthful overmuch to locomotion conscionable 50 meters from the gathering to the car astatine the extremity of the day. Breaks my bosom knowing I pushed him excessively hard, not knowing helium was not well. 💔

Anyway! He’s truthful overmuch amended now, and I’m truthful grateful.

And the champion reward for each that hard enactment I enactment into the cookbook? That helium is present with maine to observe the motorboat adjacent month.

I person the champion canine successful the world. – Nagi x

Our caller cookbook TONIGHT is present disposable for pre-order truthful you tin unafraid a transcript and get it consecutive distant erstwhile it releases successful October! It’s not each Dozer. There’s a look oregon 2 successful determination arsenic well. 😉

The station One Pot Cajun Beef Pasta with lots-of-veg appeared archetypal connected RecipeTin Eats.