beef goulash

I believe that I mentioned in earlier blogs, I received a cookbook, Lidia’s Italy by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianch Manuali, as a birthday gift last year. I selected the beef goulash recipe for dinner the other night. It was another recipe my husband wanted me to prepare.

Instead of purchasing beef for stewing at the meat counter, I chose Wegmans boneless chuck roast at $5.99/lb. and cubed it myself into 1-1/2" cubes for the recipe. Since I didn't realize I needed fresh rosemary, I substituted dry in its place using approximately 1 teaspoon. I always have tomato paste on hand. A little tip, I make 1 tablespoon size portions of the tomato paste, place on parchment paper and freeze on a pan. Once they're frozen, I place the frozen tomato paste mounds  in a container for future use. 

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While the recipe looks lengthy, it was very easy to prepare. Once you had the onions and beef going, it just took some time for the onions to cook down and the flavors to meld together. Although I didn't use fresh rosemary, I substituted dry, perhaps a teaspoons worth . While the onions and beef were simmering, I prepared the goulash sauce so that was ready when needed. While Lidia's recipe said to cool and refrigerate overnight (somehow I missed that), we ate the beef goulash the same night served over rice with a nice loaf of bread from Whole Foods. It was scrumptious! It was a hearty meal with leftovers for another night.