March: Homemade Hamburger Helper
The biggest irony of taking this year off from monthly dinner parties just may be that now that we can’t, I’d love nothing more than to be able to cook for my friends, comfortably invite them into my home, and share a meal together while losing track of whose glass is whose.
Nick and I are incredibly lucky during this time of chaos. We’re both able to work from home right now and I've been using this new slow pace and obligation to stay in as an opportunity to make a dent in my very long backlog of recipes to try. But on a run this week (I run now...), when a stranger smiled at me, I realized what I might be missing most during this time are the small interactions I used to have with people throughout the day — a shared eye roll with someone sitting across from me on the subway, some banter exchanged with a waiter, a “good morning" from my favorite security guard at the office. So to give our lives some semblance of normalcy, and for the opportunity to look at some faces besides Nick's and those of my coworkers, we invited some of our friends “over” for a virtual dinner party last night.
I took advantage of the true all bets are off diet-wise philosophy of this pandemic, to finally try a recipe that has intrigued me for quite some time now. The photos of this pasta legitimately make my mouth water every time I look at them. But given that one of the NYT commenters let readers know each serving has 1,100 calories, I’d been trying not to let myself make it. Not anymore. It was time for Mark Rosati's, Shake Shack's culinary director, homemade hamburger helper, by way of the New York Times. Beef, Bacon, Cream, Cheese, More Cheese, Oil, Pasta. YES.
One other couple also decided to make this (thank god, I didn't want to feel like the only one really going for it), and it was really fun to text with them while cooking (the onions smell amazing, is it supposed to be this crusty, we don't have cream what do we do?) and I might ask everyone to cook the same thing the next time we do this, because that part was really fun!
Given how insanely rich this recipe is, I decided to also make a huge, very light, and very green salad, so we wouldn't be solely destroying our bodies. I was just finishing up the pasta when our start-time rolled around, so I asked Nick to join the party and welcome our guests — just like normal. And one guest texted saying she was "en route," and would be a few minutes late, as someone always does, which was amazing and helped to make this almost feel like an IRL dinner party.
It took a little while for us to hit our stride and get used to video conferencing while eating, but by the time Nick and I opened our second bottle of wine (oops), we were laughing harder than we had all week. People were dropping funny links into our Zoom chat (nsffoodblog), we danced to "Gettin' Jiggy wit It," (which is just as incredible as you remember), we debated how good the Alison Roman caramelized shallot pasta really is (I think it’s one of the best pastas I’ve ever had), and we got to be together en masse (but safely).
Forgot to light the candles, but I did actually put makeup on for the first time in days
As the other people who made the hamburger helper said, that was the best meal we never want to eat again. I'll be out trying to run it off, smiling at all the strangers.
The Rundown:
Butter lettuce, Iceberg lettuce, Scallions, Parsley, Cucumbers and Lemon Vinaigrette
Other Recipes we’ve loved now that we cook all the time:
Crispy Tortellini with Peas and Prosciutto
Caramelized Shallot Pasta (with rigatoni)
Recipes on my list for this coming week:
More caramelized shallot pasta!
Our Brady Bunch
