I’ve posted this before, but worth a review as the holidays approach.  While I was home for the wedding, we had a lot of people we needed to feed quickly and easily. This is one of the recipes I made and then everyone could help themselves as they were hungry. I tossed the pasta with olive oil and put it in the refrigerator and left the beef simmering in the slow-cooker on low for the entire day. I must say, the longer it cooks, the better it gets. It was a hit with everyone.

Portuguese Beef & Pasta

• 1 lb round steak, cut into thin strips, remove excess fat
• 1 tsp salt
• ¼ tsp pepper
• 1 onion, thinly sliced (reserve ¼ for beans)
• 1 green pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• 6 oz can tomato paste
• 2-14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup water
• 1 bay leaf (remove before serving)
• ½ tsp crushed red pepper
• 8 oz dry macaroni**

Slow-Cooker and saucepan

Add beef, salt, pepper, onion, green pepper, garlic, paste, diced tomatoes, water, bay leaf & red pepper to Slow-Cooker. Cook according to manufacturer’s directions (usually 8-10 hours on low) until beef tears easily with a fork. In saucepan, cook macaroni according to package directions. Drain well (you don’t want any water in your beef mixture) and mix beef and pasta in serving bowl.

Later I’ll post the Chicken and Dumplings we had.

Update:  I should have said, this serves 4, I doubled it for the family and it still fit easily into the slow-cooker.