Barbara's Hungarian Goulash

There are some recipes that stand the test of time and become a go-to for a weekday dinner. That is the case for this recipe which I’m calling Barbara’s Hungarian Goulash but I am not the Barbara named. To understand how special this recipe is I need to take you on a journey that started decades ago.  

I spent my high school years with a special group of friends. We did everything together. Our boyfriends were friends too. In fact, Barbara and I married our high school sweethearts. Even after high school, the group stayed in touch. In the case with Barbara and I, we were in each other’s weddings, our children spent their early years together, we even sometimes vacationed together. As we all know, life changes and circumstances took us all away from our hometown to other places in the country. Even though thousands of miles separated us, Barbara and I and our spouses always managed to get together at least once a year.

During a dinner get-together, she served this goulash, which she said she found inside a matchbook, of all places.

Preparing the Ingredients

There really are not a lot of ingredients to prepare for this dish.

First, cut the chuck roast into one-and-a-half-inch cubes. Use a sharp 7-5/8″ Petite Chef and cut the meat while it’s still cold. It will make the process much easier.

The recipe also calls for some chopped onion. The sharper your knife, the less you cry when cutting onions, so a sharp 7″ Santoku is a good choice.

Use the 7" Santoku to mince up the garlic also and you’re done with the knife prep.

Putting it Together

Brown the cubed beef in a pan with some hot shortening, which will enhance the meat flavor. Add the onions until tender, then toss in the garlic to cook for a quick one to two minutes. Add in the flour, salt, paprika and thyme.

Drain the can of whole tomatoes, reserving the juice in a bowl. Add water to the juice to make one-and-a-half cups, and then add it to the meat. Chop the tomatoes and add them and the rest of the ingredients (except the pasta) into the pan to simmer for about an hour and a half, until the meat is tender.

Remove the fresh herbs that were bundled together and add the cooked pasta.

Ladle the goulash into bowls, sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and enjoy.

Tips and Tricks

You can divide the meat mixture in half if you want to freeze part of this recipe. Freeze the meat mixture only (without the pasta) to save for another day. When ready to eat, remove it from the freezer and let it thaw. Then heat it up and add in a half box of cooked rigatoni.

This Hungarian Goulash is a good Saturday meal to make, especially if you’ve got a busy day planned at home. Once everything is prepped and put in the Dutch Oven all that is necessary is an occasional stir while everything is simmering. Simmering it slowly is the key. It tenderizes the meat and allows the flavors to meld.

This is a good Saturday meal to make, especially if you’ve got a busy day planned at home. Once everything is prepped and put in the Dutch oven, an occasional stir while everything is simmering is all that is necessary. In a couple of hours, you’ll have a tender, tasty meal. Simmering it slowly is the key. It tenderizes the meat and allows the flavors to meld.

You can divide the meat mixture in half, mix with a half box of cooked rigatoni and then freeze the other half of the meat mixture for another meal.

Don’t add rigatoni to the portion you are freezing. Remove the goulash from the freezer, let thaw and heat. Cook a half box of rigatoni and stir into the heated goulash. Two easy, tasty and filling meals. Round it out with a salad and some garlic bread.

Everyone loved it here, with many saying they had never had goulash made with a roast instead of ground beef.