Recipe Sifter

This is from Paul, who used to run an old BBS (remember those?) with a cooking "echo". You can use all beef or all turkey. Also good with some shredded Parmesan cheese sprinkled over the marinara before serving.

Instead of spaghetti, use spaghetti squash to make this cheesy and succulent casserole that also has browned beef and sauteed vegetables, which is much lower in calories and gluten free.

Smoky beef chili with toasted dried chiles, habanero heat, and kidney beans. Toast, blend, and simmer for deep chile flavor that'll ruin you for canned chili powder forever.

No-bean Texas-style chili with ground beef, ground chile peppers, green chiles, and fresh tomatoes. Fat is skimmed after chilling for a leaner bowl.

Mom's chili stacks beef, kidney beans, tomatoes, and a quiet blend of cumin, oregano, and basil into a slow-simmered family-style pot. Old-school weeknight chili with a long-simmer payoff.

Homemade beef and pork sausage seasoned with sage, cumin, aniseed, and red pepper flakes. Stuff into casings for links or shape into patties for grilling.

Pedernales River chili made Texas-style with coarse ground beef, lard, ground chile, and no beans. A bold, no-frills LBJ-era recipe simmered low for an hour.

Turn leftover boiled beef into a rustic Italian main dish baked under garlicky tomatoes, oregano, and olive oil. Ready in 45 minutes with just 8 simple ingredients.

Stuffed polenta with meat sauce: two layers of Parmesan polenta sandwiching a meaty tomato-basil sauce and mozzarella, baked hot until bubbly. A lighter Italian alternative to lasagna.

A unique lasagna layered with seasoned ground beef, spaghetti sauce, olives, corn, peas, and melted mozzarella. This family-size casserole puts a creative Midwestern spin on classic Italian lasagna.

Shepherd's pie with an Italian accent: ground beef and hot Italian sausage simmered with tomatoes, mushrooms and balsamic, topped with creamy Parmesan mashed potatoes and baked golden. A hearty twist on the classic.

Beefy spaghetti soup loaded with ground beef, broken spaghetti, green beans, and mushrooms in a rich tomato-beef broth. A warm, filling one-dish soup made entirely in the microwave.

Hearty pork and beef chili simmered low with cocoa powder, cinnamon, cumin, and chili powder for deep, earthy heat. Pinto beans and cornmeal thicken the pot. Serve with sour cream, Parmesan, and chopped onions for a bold weeknight dinner.

Cozy chili con carne with chunks of beef, pinto beans, ripe tomatoes, sage, oregano, cumin, and chili powder. A long-simmered Texas-style stew for cold nights.

Puffed pizza casserole with a seasoned ground beef and tomato sauce base topped with mozzarella and a golden egg batter crust. All the pizza flavor in a 9x13 pan.

Authentic Spanish-American chili con carne made with cubed beef, beef suet, and whole dried red chile peppers reconstituted and pulped into a smoky, deeply flavored bowl of red. A traditional no-bean chili built on real chiles, not powder.