Happens to be my favourite Quick and Easy One-Pot Weeknight creation. It’s so flavourful and so creamy, delicious and comforting. It will take you about 20-30 minutes of active time, then 20 minutes of unattended time (you can go make a salad or relax after a busy day) and voila, dinner is ready!
And the best part?! The clean up is so easy with just one pot being used! Don’t worry about cooking pasta in the same pot. That starchy pasta water is what will make your dish so saucy and creamy. In fact, pasta water is famously used in Italian cooking to make pasta dishes.
Have you ever googled a dish to look for a recipe? Then discovered that most recipes are exactly the same? My goal is to share recipes that are different and unique, while heavily focusing on the technique. This is not the case here. It’s exact same recipe as basically every other blog. The only difference is that using two tricks to bring more flavour:
- We are trying to caramelize the mushrooms as much as we can in short amount of time. We are doing so by cooking them undistrubed over high heat before flipping them again.
- We are deeply browning the beef to ensure Maillard reaction takes place. Not only does the colour change during that reaciton, whole new flavours and aromas develop. HOWEVER, if we crisp all of the beef, we will be left with dry overcooked meat. So we are only crisping up 25% of the beef – this way we get the deeper flavour, but not the dryness!
Hope you guys give this dish a try. For a quick weeknight meal, it’s truly flavourful!
Let’s get cooking!
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or another heavy-bottom pot over high heat until very hot and smoking. Add mushrooms in an even layer and cook for 2-3 minutes undisturbed, until starting to brown. Flip mushrooms, season with a small pinch of kosher salt and cook the other side until golden.
Mushrooms typically need a long time to cook - on high heat to release and evaporate the moisture, then on lower heat to cook until tender. However, this is a quick weeknight meal, therefore, we are keeping this step quick. The goal here is to at the very least get some caramelization on the mushrooms to deepen the flavour, in the shortest amount of time.
Remove to a plate.
Add beef to the pan, reduce heat to medium high and cook until no longer pink, breaking up the pieces as you cook. Season it with a pinch of salt and pepper while it cooks. Remove 3/4 of the beef (75%) to a plate and set aside. Keep the remaining 1/4 of the beef and cook it longer, until it browns (turn up the heat if needed.) This will result in Maillard reaction taking place and brining big flavours to your dish. However, if you do it to all your beef, it won't be tender. Drain some of the fat, if desired.
Once your are happy with how well browned your beef is, melt butter, add onions along with reserved mushrooms and any of their juices, and cook for about 5 minutes until onions are soft and beginning to turn golden.
Sprinkle flour all over the veggies and cook for 1-2 minutes to cook off the raw flour taste, watching closely not to burn. Add garlic and cook for just 30 seconds or so until aromatic.
Add wine and stir picking up all of the flavourful bits (fond) stuck to the bottom of the pan and dissolving them into your sauce. If you don't want to use wine, use water or stock instead.
Pour a bit of stock into your pan, maybe 1/2 cup or so, stirring vigorously and working out any lumps that form. It's important to pour the stock slowly and form it into thick sauce. Turn the heat to high and pour in the rest of the stock, stirring.
Return your beef, that you set aside earlier to the pot. Add the noodles and bring everything to a boil. Stir well to ensure your noodles don't stick to the bottom. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, cover, and cook for 12-20 minutes until the noodles are tender and the sauce is thickened. The time will vary depending on the noodle used, but should be just a few minutes longer than the instructions for cooking time on the noodle package.
Remove the lid, ensure the noodles are cooked through, season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in sour cream and soy sauce until heated through and remove from heat. Although soy sauce is optional, it brings those big umami flavours to the dish. If using Dijon, stir in at this time.
Divide between 4 bowls, garnish with parsley and serve.
Ingredients
Directions
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven or another heavy-bottom pot over high heat until very hot and smoking. Add mushrooms in an even layer and cook for 2-3 minutes undisturbed, until starting to brown. Flip mushrooms, season with a small pinch of kosher salt and cook the other side until golden.
Mushrooms typically need a long time to cook - on high heat to release and evaporate the moisture, then on lower heat to cook until tender. However, this is a quick weeknight meal, therefore, we are keeping this step quick. The goal here is to at the very least get some caramelization on the mushrooms to deepen the flavour, in the shortest amount of time.
Remove to a plate.
Add beef to the pan, reduce heat to medium high and cook until no longer pink, breaking up the pieces as you cook. Season it with a pinch of salt and pepper while it cooks. Remove 3/4 of the beef (75%) to a plate and set aside. Keep the remaining 1/4 of the beef and cook it longer, until it browns (turn up the heat if needed.) This will result in Maillard reaction taking place and brining big flavours to your dish. However, if you do it to all your beef, it won't be tender. Drain some of the fat, if desired.
Once your are happy with how well browned your beef is, melt butter, add onions along with reserved mushrooms and any of their juices, and cook for about 5 minutes until onions are soft and beginning to turn golden.
Sprinkle flour all over the veggies and cook for 1-2 minutes to cook off the raw flour taste, watching closely not to burn. Add garlic and cook for just 30 seconds or so until aromatic.
Add wine and stir picking up all of the flavourful bits (fond) stuck to the bottom of the pan and dissolving them into your sauce. If you don't want to use wine, use water or stock instead.
Pour a bit of stock into your pan, maybe 1/2 cup or so, stirring vigorously and working out any lumps that form. It's important to pour the stock slowly and form it into thick sauce. Turn the heat to high and pour in the rest of the stock, stirring.
Return your beef, that you set aside earlier to the pot. Add the noodles and bring everything to a boil. Stir well to ensure your noodles don't stick to the bottom. Reduce the heat to maintain a simmer, cover, and cook for 12-20 minutes until the noodles are tender and the sauce is thickened. The time will vary depending on the noodle used, but should be just a few minutes longer than the instructions for cooking time on the noodle package.
Remove the lid, ensure the noodles are cooked through, season to taste with salt and pepper. Stir in sour cream and soy sauce until heated through and remove from heat. Although soy sauce is optional, it brings those big umami flavours to the dish. If using Dijon, stir in at this time.
Divide between 4 bowls, garnish with parsley and serve.
