It’s cold here. Yes, it’s the South and I am a big baby about cold but I swear: it’s actually cold.
And cold, of course = comfort food.
This is where the cultural divide comes in. One of my favorite comfort foods is a dish my mother used to make:
~ ground beef, browned and drained
~ cooked pasta, usually elbow macaroni
~ red sauce, pretty spicy with lots of garlic and Worcestershire sauce
~ cheese, usually mozzarella and Parmesan
Everything is mixed together in a casserole dish and baked at 350 for about 40 minutes with a little extra cheese melted on top at the very end of the cooking. My mom called this Italian casserole.
My husband, The Yankee, calls this goulash.
Say what?
Goulash in my house involved runny-nigh-onto-watery tomato sauce with whole tomatoes and it involved egg noodles. Yeech.
So, my Italian casserole — what would you call it?
We called it goulash. Mmm, haven’t had that in years! I’m from Chicago and I’m sure it’s regional!
American chop suey!
Sounds like Goulash to me. Maybe it is a Midwest thing (since I am originally from MI).
hmmm perhaps I should add that I am from New England?
Hmm, I think I am with you. To me, it sounds like a simple baked ziti, only with elbow mac. So, I would probably call it “baked macaroni” or something. I grew up in Michigan, but never really knew what goulash was.
My husband also grew up in Michigan, although his mom was from Massachusetts. I asked him if he had any concept of what goulash was, and he said, “Ummm, some sort of Eastern European stew thing?”
That’s probably what I would have thought, too – so here’s 2 votes from non-Southerners for your side!
My brother and I used to call it “Burger mac”. My Mom would make this often because as she put it “It’s cheap and good for you. Now shut up and eat.” LOL
My DH says its sounds like a baked spaghetti with meatsauce
I think it sounds like a burger mac
My DH is from Alaska and I’m from Maryland
I’ve had this before and made it myself. It’s just like spaghetti or ziti but with elbow mac instead. I’d call it beef and macaroni bake.
My mom used to make that when I was a kid and it didn’t really have a name but now I know it as American Chop Suey.
I’m from Western NY, and we call it goulash, too!
Goulash here (PA)! But I’ve seen it mostly in soup form. Here’s what wikipedia has on it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goulash. mmm, Italian goulash…gnocchi…
American Chop Suey….my mom made this frequently….she was from Massachusettes
[...] any time of year, if we’re being honest here. It’s a nice departure from my standby of cultural divide casserole (have you weighed in?) which gets made a lot in winter [...]
If it wasn’t baked with the cheese, we’d call it American Chop Suey. =) My mom made it all the time when we were growing up (in Massachusetts) + it’s total comfort food to me. Baked and with the cheese, I’d probably call it Baked Hamburger Mac or something like that. But it’s definitely not what I think of as goulash!
We call it American Chop Suey too. And that mostly came from my father from New Hampshire. So maybe it’s a true Yankee thing. (“True” meaning Yankee from New England, not just someone from the north).