One Pan Greek Skillet Supper
This is an easy, tasty, hearty one pan meal! I found it on the Internet and tweaked it!
This is an easy, tasty, hearty one pan meal! I found it on the Internet and tweaked it!
- 1 large onion chopped
- 1/2 cup dry red wine
- 1 lb. ground beef lean
- 1 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamo
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 14 oz. can beef broth
- 1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes undrained
- 2 tbls. tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cups uncooked penne pasta
- 1 cup frozen chopped spinach thawed and squeezed
- 1 5 oz. container feta cheese crumbled
- Carbohydrate 26.5998587483046 g
- Cholesterol 109.576569375 mg
- Fat 29.464361874906 g
- Fiber 2.3339875411946 g
- Protein 24.033029377635 g
- Saturated Fat 10.9123286499021 g
- Serving Size 1 1 Serving (262g)
- Sodium 124.510721968127 mg
- Sugar 24.26587120711 g
- Trans Fat 7.68296811722997 g
- Calories 491 calories
Step-by-step
- In a large skillet on med/high heat, cook ground beef and onions til meat is well done. Stir often. Drain liquid.
- Then add oregano, cinnamon and garlic powder. Mix well. Stir in beef broth, wine, diced tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to a boil and stir in pasta.
- Reduce heat to medium. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
- Stir in spinach and feta cheese. Cover and cook another 10 minutes.
- Serve warm.
How does scaling a single-skillet braise affect the liquid ratios when pasta cooks directly in the sauce? Doubling this dish requires precision. A standard twelve-inch skillet holds roughly six quarts of volume, which safely accommodates double the batch without overcrowding the base. Exceeding that capacity forces liquid to evaporate too slowly, leaving the penne soggy before the starches can bind the sauce. When halving the recipe, reduce the dry red wine and beef broth by forty percent rather than fifty percent, because surface evaporation claims a higher relative volume in smaller pans. Ground beef contains substantial intramuscular fat, so browning the meat over medium-high heat renders out grease that must be drained completely before the spices hit the pan. Ground cinnamon and dried oregano contain fat-soluble volatile compounds; blooming them directly in the rendered beef residue for thirty seconds releases their aromatics far more effectively than adding them alongside watery canned tomatoes. Thawing frozen spinach completely and wringing it in a clean kitchen towel prevents excess moisture from diluting the tomato paste and broth emulsion during the final ten-minute simmer. Leftovers keep in an airtight glass container in the refrigerator for up to three days, though the pasta will continue absorbing moisture as it chills.
