BEEF GOULASH WITH BLUE CHEESE

Every time I mentioned Goulash was on the menu, my husband would visibly cringe, although he had tried the real thing in Hungary, and claimed to have enjoyed it.
The kids, however, were excited to try the beef, tomato and paprika mixture, as their current toy obsession "trash packs", feature a figure called "gross goulash", and they were curious what that was. The horrible little rubber collectables with detestable, disgusting names, were at least encouraging my kids to branch out and taste new foods.
As it happened, my husband had a meeting in Little Rock, a three hour drive from where we live,  the day the goulash was to be for dinner. He called me later to let me know, that unfortunately he was going to have to get a hotel room and spend the night out of town, as the roads were too icy and dangerous to attempt the drive home. Some people will do anything to get out of eating goulash, but the rest of us thought it was delicious!!

BEEF GOULASH WITH BLUE CHEESE

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound ground beef
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons of smoked paprika
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 can (14.5 ounces) petite diced tomatoes
1 cup beef stock
1/2 pound macaroni
2 tablespoons sour cream
1 cup crumbled blue cheese
chopped fresh parsley for garnish

Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
In a skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high. Add the beef and cook until browned. Add the bell pepper, onion, garlic and paprika, season to taste with salt and pepper.
Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes and beef stock and simmer until the goulash is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, salt the boiling water and cook the macaroni until al dente, drain.
Stir the sour cream into the goulash.
Place pasta and goulash in a bowl, top with the blue cheese and parsley.
Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from Rachael Ray Magazine, December 2013
www.rachaelray.com/‎