Southwest Beef Cavatappi Skillet

🥘 Ingredients

• Mexican cheese blend
  1 cup
• Southwest Spice Blend
  2
• beef stock concentrate
  1 packet
• butter
  2 tbsp
• cavatappi pasta
  12 oz
• cooking oil
  1.333 tbsp
• ground beef
  20 oz
• hot sauce
  2
• pepper
• poblano pepper
  2 unit
• salt
• scallions
  2 unit
• smoky red pepper crema
  8tbsp
• sour cream
  4tbsp
• tomato paste
  3

🍳 Cookware

• medium

1. 

   1

   Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Wash and dry all produce. Halve, deseed, and thinly slice poblano pepper into strips. Trim and thinly slice scallions , separating whites from greens.

   poblano pepper: 2 unit, scallions: 2 unit
2. 

   2

   Once water is boiling, add cavatappi pasta to pot. Cook until al dente ⏱️ 10 minutes . Reserve 1 cup pasta cooking water (2 cups for 4 servings), then drain. Meanwhile, heat a large drizzle of cooking oil in a medium pan over medium-high heat. Add poblano and season with salt and pepper ; cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened ⏱️ 4-5 minutes .

   cavatappi pasta: 12 oz, cooking oil: 1 tbsp, salt, pepper
3. 

   3

   Add another drizzle of cooking oil to pan with poblano; add ground beef and scallion whites. Season with Southwest Spice Blend and salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up meat into pieces, until beef is browned and cooked through ⏱️ 5 minutes . Tip: If there's excess grease, carefully pour it out. Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly ⏱️ 30 seconds .

   cooking oil: 1 tsp, ground beef: 20 oz, Southwest Spice Blend: 2, tomato paste: 3
4. 

   4

   Add ½ cup reserved pasta water (¾ cup for 4) and beef stock concentrate to pan with beef mixture. Season with ½ tsp salt (1 tsp for 4) and pepper. Bring to a simmer; cook, stirring, until thickened ⏱️ 2-3 minutes .

   beef stock concentrate: 1 packet
5. 

   5

   Reduce heat to low and stir in cavatappi pasta , sour cream , smoky red pepper crema , half the Mexican cheese blend , and 1 tbsp butter (2 tbsp for 4). Season with salt and pepper and hot sauce to taste (or hot sauce to taste). If needed, stir in more reserved cooking water, a splash at a time, until creamy.

   cavatappi pasta, sour cream: 4tbsp, smoky red pepper crema: 8tbsp, Mexican cheese blend: 1 cup, butter: 2 tbsp, hot sauce: 2
6. 

   6

   Top beef cavatappi with remaining Mexican cheese; cover pan until cheese melts ⏱️ 1-2 minutes . Sprinkle with scallion greens and serve.