ground sirloin

In 2001, Regina Schrambling went on a week long odyssey in search of the ultimate lasagna recipe. She tested several, and finally found her ideal in a mash-up of recipes from Giuliano Bugialli and Elodia Rigante, both Italian cookbook authors. 

“If there were central casting for casseroles, this one deserved the leading role. But its beauty was more than cheese deep. This was the best lasagna I had ever eaten. The sauce was intensely flavored, the cheeses melted into creaminess as if they were bechamel, the meat was just chunky enough, and the noodles put up no resistance to the fork. Most important, the balance of pasta and sauce was positively Italian. At last I could understand why my neighbor Geoff had told me, as I dragged home more bags in our elevator, that all-day lasagna is the only kind worth making.”

Lasagna

extra virgin olive oil

red onions, finely diced

garlic

pancetta, diced

Salt and black pepper

red wine,

Italian plum tomatoes

tomato paste

sirloin

pecorino Romano

eggs

leaves

flour

ricotta cheese

parsley

mozzarella, grated

lasagna

For the sauce, heat 1/2 cup oil in a large heavy Dutch oven or kettle over low heat. Add the onions, minced garlic and pancetta, and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes, until the onions are wilted. Season liberally with salt and pepper. Raise heat slightly, add the wine and cook until it is mostly reduced, about 20 minutes. Crush the tomatoes into the pan, and add their juice. Add the tomato paste and 2 cups lukewarm water. Simmer for 1 hour.

Combine the sirloin, cheese and eggs in a large bowl. Chop the parsley with the whole garlic until fine, then stir into the beef mixture. Season lavishly with salt and pepper. Using your hands, mix until all the ingredients are well blended. Shape into meatballs and set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Dust the meatballs lightly with flour, shaking off excess, and lay into the hot oil. Brown the meatballs on all sides (do not cook through) and transfer to the sauce.

In a clean skillet, brown the sausages over medium-high heat. Transfer to the sauce. Simmer 1 1/2 hours.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, eggs, pecorino Romano, parsley and all but 1 cup of the mozzarella. Season well with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly.

Remove the meatballs and sausage from the sauce, and set aside to cool slightly, then chop coarsely. Spoon a thick layer of sauce into the bottom of a 9-by-12-inch lasagna pan. Cover with a layer of noodles. Spoon more sauce on top, then add a third of the meat and a third of the cheese mixture. Repeat for 2 more layers, using all the meat and cheese. Top with a layer of noodles, and cover with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle reserved mozzarella evenly over the top. Bake 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

This simple version of sloppy Joes, the classic sandwich served in school cafeterias and at kitchen counters across the country, comes together in about 20 minutes and can be made with ground beef, chicken or turkey. As the name suggests, they are messy, so serve with a fork and plenty of napkins.

Sloppy Joes

tomato sauce

ketchup

Worcestershire sauce

mustard

dry mustard

molasses

garlic clove, finely minced

orange zest

cloves

Hot sauce

beef

onion,

whole-wheat hamburger buns,

In a saucepan over low heat combine the sauce ingredients. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix well, and simmer while preparing the meat.

Heat a heavy nonstick or cast-iron skillet, at least 10 inches in diameter, over medium-high heat. Add the ground sirloin, and saute, stirring occasionally, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the meat is no longer pink. Turn the meat into a strainer or colander lined with paper towels, allowing the fat to drain off.

Add the onion to the pan, and sauté, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes, or until the onion is translucent. Return the meat to the pan, and add the sauce. Heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and season with salt, pepper or more hot sauce, if desired. Spoon 1/2 cup of the mixture over each bun. Serve immediately.

Before you use herbs as a main ingredient — it helps to know which ones work on a grand scale. Parsley, obviously, works in abundance: it’s clean-tasting, pleasantly grassy and almost never overwhelming. You can add literally a bunch (bunches!) of it to salad, soup, eggs, pasta, grains or beans. The same is largely true of basil, and you can use other mild herbs — chervil, chives, cilantro, dill, shiso — by at least the handful. (Mint is also useful but will easily take over a dish if you add too much of it. But all of these are great for making herb pastes, or pestos, alone or in combination. Use the same technique you use for basil pesto.)

Pasta With Meatballs and Herb Sauce

basil

chives

white bread

milk

pork

Salt

black pepper

olive oil

pasta

Parmesan cheese

Mix together the basil, parsley and chives. Soak the bread in the milk for 5 minutes, then gently squeeze any excess milk from the bread; discard the milk. Combine the bread with the meat, 1 cup of the herbs and some salt and pepper; shape the mixture into 1-inch meatballs.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt it. Put 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the meatballs in a single layer (work in batches if necessary). Cook, turning occasionally, until brown on all sides, 5 to 10 minutes.

Cook the pasta in the boiling water until tender but not mushy. While the pasta is cooking, purée 11/2 cups of the herbs with 4 tablespoons oil, the garlic and some salt and pepper in a mini food processor or blender; leave the sauce rough or add a little water if you want it smoother. Drain the pasta, reserving about a cup of its cooking liquid. Toss the pasta with the herb sauce and most of the remaining herbs, adding the reserved liquid if the mixture seems dry. Top with the meatballs, garnish with Parmesan and the last of the herbs and serve.

Sonia Ezgulian, the guest chef at Café Salle Pleyel in Paris in 2008, created this burger, a riff on steak tartare. She’s kneaded a mixture of chopped sun-dried tomatoes and tangy cornichons and capers into the ground meat. Parmesan shavings stand in for the usual Cheddar.

Café Salle Pleyel Burger

red onion, finely chopped

unsalted butter

coriander

oil-packed, sun-dried tomatoes

capers (1.5 ounces)

cornichons

tarragon leaves

parsley leaves

chuck

Parmesan cheese, thinly sliced with a vegetable peeler

sesame-seed hamburger buns

dill pickles, thinly sliced lengthwise with a vegetable peeler

In a small saucepan, combine red onion with butter, coriander and 1 cup water and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture is reduced to 1/2 cup, about 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a small food processor, pulse sun-dried tomatoes with capers, cornichons, tarragon and parsley until finely chopped.

In a medium bowl, lightly mix meat with sun-dried tomato mixture and season with pepper. Shape meat into 4 patties about 3/4 inch thick.

Heat olive oil in a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Add burgers and cook for about 2 minutes on each side for rare or 3 minutes for medium rare. Transfer burgers to a platter and top with Parmesan. Lightly toast buns. Spread a thin layer of onion jam on bottom buns. Top with pickle slices and burgers. Cover with top buns and serve.

In 2011, Alex Witchel got this recipe from the chef Tadashi Ono, who made it for a pairing with rose Champagne, during an interview with the restaurateur Rita Jammet. “The burger was its own eureka,” she wrote. “Half beef, half pork, it stayed uncannily moist despite being cooked through. Perfection.” Mrs. Jammet agreed. “The rosé has a little more fruit,” she said. “It picks up the sweet from the ketchup, while the bubbles and acidity cut through the fat of the meat.” So there you have your wine pairing, if you’re interested. The burger goes beautifully with beer as well.

Japanese Burgers With Wasabi Ketchup

soy sauce

wasabi paste

panko or other dry bread crumbs

white onion

salt

pepper

Sesame oil,

brioche buns,

Prepare the wasabi ketchup: Whisk together the ketchup, soy sauce and wasabi paste.

Make the burgers: Prepare a grill for medium heat. In a large mixing bowl, combine the bread crumbs and milk and let rest 2 to 3 minutes. Add the sirloin, pork, onion, soy sauce, salt and pepper. Knead the meat until it becomes sticky and binds together; divide into 4 parts.

Lightly dab your hands with sesame oil. Using your palms, roll each part of the meat into a ball, then pat the ball flat, shifting it from hand to hand, to form a 1/2-inch-thick patty. Make a shallow indentation across the center of the patty with the side of your hand, to keep it from puffing while it grills.

For the wasabi ketchup

Grill the burgers, flipping twice, until browned and cooked through, with no pink in the middle, about 10 minutes. (Alternatively, they may be broiled or sautéed.) Let rest for 2 minutes. Serve on buns, topped with some wasabi ketchup.

For the burgers

Dirty rice gets its color from caramelized sirloin and the roux — flour browned (but not burned) in oil. The New Orleans-based chef Isaac Toups offers a 15-minute roux shortcut in his book “Chasing the Gator,” but you may find your roux browns more quickly in the smoking hot oil. Be sure to stir, stir, stir once you add the flour. You cannot walk away from the pot while making this roux. Prep the “trinity” — bell peppers, onion and celery — in advance as you won't have time to do it while the roux cooks. When the roux turns the color of milk chocolate, toss in the chopped vegetables to stop the roux from cooking any further. Instead of adding rice and the serving components, you could do as Mr. Toups suggests and use the meat gravy as a base for a lasagna ragu. Just throw in some fresh tomatoes and cook it down “until it’s nice and tight” and make it your lasagna filling.

Dirty Rice

grapeseed oil, or other neutral oil

cumin

cayenne

amber beer

all-purpose flour

green bell pepper

celery

garlic, crushed

chicken stock,

Louisiana jasmine or medium-grain white rice

bay leaf

scallions (green tops only), chopped

Kosher salt

Sear the meat: Season the sirloin — just use it how it comes out of the tray from the grocery store — with 1 teaspoon of salt on each side.

In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat until it starts to smoke. Place the sirloin in the skillet in one piece and let it sear until it browns and caramelizes, 3 to 5 minutes. Then flip it and repeat, 3 to 5 minutes longer.

Once the block of sirloin is well browned — nearly caramelized, chop it up in the pan with a metal spatula to sear the inside bits. Add the black pepper, cumin and cayenne and stir well. Cook for a minute. Add the beer to deglaze the pan, and cook 1 minute longer, scraping up any browned bits. Remove from the heat and set aside. At this point, you could freeze the meat.

Make the gravy: Start by making a dark roux. Heat the oil in a Dutch oven over high heat until it just starts to smoke. Add the flour and immediately start stirring with a long-handled spoon. Stir constantly, scraping the bottom and edges well to keep the flour from burning. Once it’s the color of milk chocolate, anywhere from 4 to 15 minutes (the most important thing to watch is the color of the roux), add the onion, bell pepper, and celery and stir together. Cook for a minute. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute longer. Add the beer and mix well.

In 1/3-cup increments, add the stock, stirring well between each addition. Reduce heat to low and stir frequently, but not continuously, until you have a well-emulsified gravy, thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 4 minutes.

Once the gravy is done, add the cooked beef. Bring the meat and gravy mixture back to a bare simmer. Cover and cook for 1 1/2 hours, or until the sauce has no chalky or floury flavor.

Make the rice: While the gravy is cooking, put rice, 2 cups water, salt and bay leaf in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and bring to a bare simmer. Stir, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let steam in the covered pan for another 10 minutes, until all water is absorbed. Fluff with fork. Spread it out in a single layer on a baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to serve.

To serve: Add the cooked rice, butter and scallions to the meat gravy in the pot. Stir it all together over low heat, just to warm it all through. Add salt to taste and serve.

As a child I grew up eating potted meat on everything. It's was eaten especially on Crackers, bread, and dips. Doing it this way you know what you have in the ingredients.

Potted Meat, (Beef)

onion

celery salt

marjoram

white pepper

garlic powder

onion powder

Hungarian paprika

liquid smoke

Brown the ground sirloin and onions in a pan. Drain the meat and save both the meat and drippings. Let the meat cool.

Take a blender and blend the meat into a paste adding oil and drippings as needed.

Do this in batches. Set each batch into a mixing bowl.

When all the meat is like a paste, mix with the spices. Also add the liquid smoke. Knead the meat like dough.

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Top Tags

Lasagna

Sloppy Joes

Pasta With Meatballs and Herb Sauce

Café Salle Pleyel Burger

Japanese Burgers With Wasabi Ketchu...

Dirty Rice

Potted Meat, (Beef)

Top 7 ground sirloin recipes from across the web

The most viewed ground sirloin recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Lasagna

Sloppy Joes

Pasta With Meatballs and Herb Sauce

Café Salle Pleyel Burger

Japanese Burgers With Wasabi Ketchu...

Dirty Rice

Potted Meat, (Beef)

The most viewed ground sirloin recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine