Thursday, September 17, 2009

Sloppy Joe Spaghetti Cups...

Before we get to tonight's dish, I have to tell you about what we picked up at the market yesterday. I knew this item was coming out this year and have been eagerly waiting to catch it - the new SweeTango Apple!

This comes from the same group that brought us the infamous Honeycrisp and this apple, in fact, is a cross between the Honeycrisp and Zestar apples. Here's my thought process as I ate through my first apple - "Woo! This just might beat Honeycrisp in the crispy department - now wait a second... dang, this is so sweet too!". Then, I wiped my chin as juice was dribbling down, my next mouthful led me to a fascinating tangy finish that was not quite as powerful as a Granny Smith pucker, but still had some pull. I haven't tried baking with it yet, but I'll be interested to see how it holds up to heat - it might make for one sweet apple pie! There is one downside... as they are so new and limited, the apples were darn pricey - three medium-sized ones were just over $5.

Okay, time to move on! Tonight's dinner was definitely one of the more fun recipes we've made in awhile! Think Sloppy Joes and spaghetti, except made in a form that could be picked up with your hands and eaten more like a muffin... yup, that would be Sloppy Joe Spaghetti Cups!

After starting with lean ground sirloin, cooked with chopped onion until the beef was cooked through and had turned into crumbles, we then started layering in flavor by tossing in a couple minced cloves of garlic. One quick note on the meat - using the sirloin, there wasn't much extra fat that needed to be drained away. If you use ground beef with more than 10% fat, you'll need to drain away the excess grease before you add the garlic. Also, this would work just fine with ground chicken, turkey or even soy crumbles if you fancy them.

Stirring the meat mixture around until the garlic was fragrant, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, chili powder, smoked paprika were the next ingredients added to spice up what will become the filling. Dollops of tomato paste are also added now... which brings us to my tomato paste plead. In dishes like this, or when you're using paste in other soups and stews, let the tomato paste hang out in the pan for a minute or two before you start adding liquids. The heat will start to caramelize the paste, adding character by developing the more subtle nuances. The filling then comes together when a cup of water is added and is left to simmer and concentrate down.

While that was happening, we had a half pound of whole-wheat spaghetti, that I snapped in half, cooking away in its salty bath. Breaking the strands in two will make it easier to fit them into the muffin cups shortly! To cool the pasta down quickly and stop it from continuing to cook, it was rinsed with cold water, then drained well. To get that pasta to bind together enough to hold the cup form, we tossed it with a mixture of sour cream, an egg and a bit of sharp white cheddar. Taking a small pile of the coated pasta, we placed it in one of the open wells of a muffin tin and used a spoon to compact it in. A small portion of the thickened Sloppy Joe filling was then scooped into the center of each pasta-filled well, followed by another dose of the cheddar. Once all the wells were filled, the pan was placed into the oven to bake until the cups had warmed through and firmed up.

The original recipe was decidedly different in the seasoning section - it didn't have fresh onions, garlic or Worcestershire sauce and just added a purchased Sloppy Joe mix. As you can see, we didn't go for that, but kept the theme in mind - however, if you have mouths to feed that like food on the plain side, I can see why one may want to go in that direction. Using the nuttier whole-wheat spaghetti adds plenty of nutrition, but it would of course be fine using regular - saying that, because of the way this is put together, I bet one could sneak this by if you don't regularly use whole-wheat. You could even use half whole-wheat and half white if you'd like to slowly start working it in.

If you have small helpers around, you could definitely get them involved with making these snazzy pasta cups - hand them a cookie scoop and let them fill up with the meaty sauce or give them the honor of being the Official Cheese Sprinkler and have them add a few shreds on top of each one!

19 comments:

  1. I love to make something similar for my kids. I call them spaghetti cupcakes. I toss cooked pasta with egg and parmesan cheese, top with homemade spaghetti sauce, sprinkle with mozzarella cheese, and put one meatball on top, like a cherry on top of a cupcake. The kids LOVE them, and they freeze like a dream, for putting in school lunchboxes during the week. Perfect!

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  2. Those look interesting. Are they dry?

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  3. I know! I was SO excited to try the new apples, but I can't afford to eat them, lol. I bought just ONE, and it cost me about $3! Honeycrisp too--I love 'em, but sadly, I "treat" myself to one a year due to the price. It seems ridiculous--they were created here, they are grown here, so WHY in the world are they so darn expensive?! They should be so much cheaper than the ones trucked in from Washington, right?! Sorry for the rant--I am done :-)

    Courtney

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  4. Oh wow, what cute little cups, they look great!

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  5. Cheryl - Love that idea!

    Taryn - Depends on you define dry! I didn't think they were overly so, but they are not dripping with moisture either. We didn't feel like we needed extra sauce or anything.

    Crazy, I know! Cub had Honeycrisp for $1.77/lb last weekend... we splurged at that price and got a few!

    Kerstin - Thanks!

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  6. Hey Joe,

    Do you think this would work with Angel Hair pasta or does it need the thickness of the spaghetti? Just wondering since angel hair is a staple around our house but spaghetti isn't.

    Angela

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  7. These look so fun and a gourmet take on a childhood favorite! Love it!

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  8. I have made a similar recipe too and those are fun to eat!
    A few days without posting... did you sell the house already Joe?!
    Oh, and we also like the honeycrisp apples around here, yum!
    Ana

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  9. Which market did you go to? I haven't found the SweeTango yet.

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  10. Just stumbled upon your recipes.OMG.I am thrilled to go through your recipes and find many I want to try.Thanks.

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  11. I am missing your daily posts - hope all is well!

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  12. Hope that you guys are okay--I am missing your posts!

    Courtney

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  13. these look so atractive, and delicious, i have to try this soon, very interesting blog and recipes, will be coming back for more,

    cheers from london,

    pity

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  14. Your cups look cute and delicious! Original idea!

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  15. Hello:
    Where have you been missing you.
    Hope everything is okay and you are well.
    hope you got an offer on the house.

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  16. I feel the same way about Asian pears -- they're dreadfully expensive but worth it.

    Hope everyone up there is doing well. We miss your posts!

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  17. Unless I missed something, you've been absent a while now, and while you have no obligation to post anything (though I'm oh so happy that you do!) I worry...can't help it! I hope all is well :-)

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  18. What a great idea Joe. They look delicious.

    Hope you come back soon. I missing your great recipes.

    Hélène

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  19. Angela - I think that would be fine.

    Pepe - We found them at Lund's.

    For those asking, no, sadly, we have not sold the house! You'll find an update as to what was going on in the above post!

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