One Pot Cheeseburger Cavatappi

Macaroni and cheese taken to the next level

I made this version of cheeseburger macaroni for dinner last night. I like cavatappi better than elbow macaroni for this dish (and most others). The ridges seem to help the pasta grip the cheese sauce. I particularly like the De Cecco brand, because the bronze extrusion plates create a rougher surface that also helps hold sauce.

• ½ lb ground beef

• 1 medium shallot, diced

• 1 clove garlic, minced

• ½ tablespoon tomato paste

• 187 ml white wine (I buy those little four packs of Robert Mondavi Woodbridge to cook with)

• 1-½ cups beef stock

• ½ cup evaporated milk

• ½ teaspoon paprika

• 5 ounces cavatappi pasta

• 3 ounces cheddar cheese, grated

• 3 ounces Monterey jack cheese, grated

• salt and pepper to taste

I cooked the entire meal in my Cucina 12-inch electric skillet. It is an excellent tool for dishes like this.

Heat the pan to 350°. (The Culina thermostat is reasonably accurate, but I like to check it with an infrared thermometer gun.) Add just enough vegetable oil to very thinly coat the pan. Add the ground beef. Season the beef with salt and pepper. Cook until pieces begin browning. Remove the ground beef to a paper towel lined plate to drain.

Wipe out the pan and reheat to 325°. Again, lightly coat the pan with oil. Sauté the shallot pieces until they begin to color (do NOT let them burn). Add garlic and tomato paste. Sauté for about 30 seconds.

Return meat to pan. Add wine, raise temperature to 350° and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Allow wine to reduce towards a glaze. Add stock and milk, stirring briskly. Add paprika. Taste and add salt and/or pepper as needed. Add cavatappi and cover. Cook pasta about 9 minutes, stirring occasionally, checking so that you can turn the heat down to low just after the pasta becomes al dente. Add cheeses and stir until they melt. If the sauce gets too thick, add a few tablespoons of water to thin it. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary. Serve.

I served it with Cook’s Illustrated’s Spinach Salad with Gorgonzola and Pear, which made a very nice match.

Wine Pairing

Ridge Vineyards Evangelho (Contra Costa County) 2022

A blend of 55% Carignane, 26% Zinfandel, and 19% Mataro. Deep purple color. Medium-bodied. Complex. Mocha java. Pepper. Red fruits. Soft tannins. Well-balanced with good structure. Very food friendly. Will age. Excellent match.

One does not usually think of Carignane as making outstanding wine. As Jancis Robinson notes:

The wine produced is typically high in rough tannins and acidity and in southern France the softening vinification method of carbonic maceration routinely has to be used to ensure that wines made from Carignan can be drunk reasonably young. I find a rank bitterness in many Languedoc red blends too dependent on high-yielding Carignan.

But Robinson also notes that:

Old-vine Carignan grapes, fully ripened on infertile soils in a warm summer, produce by far the best Carignan wine. The key here is that yields have been restricted and there is enough ripe fruit character to mask the naturally high tannins and acidity.

The Evangelho vineyard is precisely the type Robinson describes as producing quality Carignane:

Old vines planted on an ancient alluvial sandbar where the Sacramento and San Joaquin Rivers merge with the cooling waters and breezes of the San Francisco Bay. These gnarly vines are 120 years-old and are head-pruned, non- irrigated, and on their original root stock.

The last point is especially interesting, because the phylloxera louse has wiped out European grape varieties planted on their own roots worldwide, including most of California. As a result, the vast majority of vitis vinifera grapes come from European vines that have been grafted onto American rootstock. Whether grafted or own rootstock vines produce superior wine is a matter of some controversy. And not one I propose to resolve.