This isn't fancy but it's my comfort food. My family has been making this and calling it macaroni since before I was born. It's a super simple recipe that I cook mostly in the winter. Across the Midwest US this is known as (American) Goulash.
I start with 1 Kg (2 lb) ground beef, a large onion, 600 g (4 cups) of macaroni elbows (or other unit pasta), two 798 ml (27 oz?) cans of crushed or diced tomatoes, dry basil, dry oregano, garlic powder, salt, and the secret ingredient, ketchup.
I dice up the onion, heat up a deep frying pan, add a bunch of butter (30 ml, 2 T), and toss in the onions frying them until they start to caramelize. Then I add in the ground beef and fry it until there is no more visible red and I think it's mostly cooked. Next I add in all of the diced/crushed tomatoes, a palm full (seriously, that's how I do it...maybe between 15 ml and 30 ml (1T and 2T) each of dry basil and dry oregano, around 5 ml (1 t) of garlic powder, and around 10 ml (2 t) of salt. Finally, I add a good squirt of ketchup (maybe...250 ml, 1 c). I stir it up, bring it to a simmer, and turn the heat down to hold the simmer.
Next, I boil the elbows until they are al dente. When the elbows are ready I drain them and shake the colander to get rid of as much water as possible then dump the elbows into the sauce and mix. From there it goes straight into bowls.
Between you and me, I think it's actually better the next day fried in a frying pan with butter but that's just me...and my father...and my son.
You’re not wrong, traditional Hungarian goulash is indeed a slow simmered beef stew, but it has (imo) a pretty interesting story!
Throughout the Middle Ages, goulash migrated around, integrating itself into the flavors and tastes of lots of other old world cultures, like Albania and even Ethiopia, who still have their own version of goulash too which also resembles a type of stew.
In the mid-too-late-19th century many Hungarians migrated to The United States, so in keeping tradition, goulash integrated itself into the tastes and flavors of American culture, and thus what we see above was born. Even different regions within the states have their own version. In the Midwest (states like Minnesota, the Dakotas, Michigan) it can resemble more of a casserole, whereas the southern states, it could include chicken and rice.
What connects them all is really that it’s a comfort food, made in a single pot, and best eaten with family!
Gulyás is not a stew! You are thinking of pörkölt, that's what most other nations call "goulash". Gulyás is a soup.
That's really interesting! I once ate yak goulash in Bhutan - it was delicious.