Homemade "Hamburger Helper" Extra Extra Cheesy or (American Chop Suey? WTF?)

On the internet, "American Chop Suey" popped up in my food surfing.  I remembered seeing it on a cooking show once and thought it was a ridiculous name.  To me as a kid chop suey was Chinese vegetables stir-fried with oyster sauce and you could order it with beef or chicken.  It was the yucky vegetable dish we were forced to eat when my parents ordered in Chinese food.

My dad made versions of this dish when we were kids, but he called it "Hungarian Goulash".  I loved his goulash, especially when he used potatoes instead of macaroni.  He'd cook the raw bite sized potatoes in the sauce and he used stewed tomatoes.  You'd get some white bread with butter to dip in the sauce.  There was never cheese in it though.  Anyway, I'm just going to call this homemade hamburger helper.  I based mine on the Serious Eats link above as I liked his idea about the mozza cheese.  Sunday dinner comfort food and it was a suitable dish as I was really hungover today.

• 375 gram box of whole grain wheat macaroni
• 1 lb extra lean ground turkey
• 1/2 pound Mexican chorizo sausage
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large sweet onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon crushed chili flakes
• 1 large green pepper, diced
• Few good shakes of Worcestershire sauce
• 28 oz can whole San Marzano D.O.P. tomatoes, crushed with potato masher
• 10 oz can no salt tomato sauce
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon "Better than Bouillon" vegetable base
• 1 tablespoon Trader Joe's no salt "21 seasoning salute"
• 1 cup of water
• Kosher salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
• 375 grams (1 box) whole wheat macaroni, boiled for 5 minutes then strained and drained 
• 340 grams block of mozzarella cheese, diced
• 1 ball of fresh mozzarella, cut in quarter inch slices
• 1 cup of marble cheese, grated
• 1/2 cup fresh grated Parmesan Reggiano, for the topping
• large handful of Italian parsley, finely chopped, for sauce and garnish

I started by sauteing the onions, bell pepper, chili flakes and garlic in the olive oil.

I added in the ground turkey, chorizo and stirred until cooked.

I cooked the tomato paste next pushing the meat and veggies off to the side.

After a minute or two, I added in all the tomato products, Worcestershire sauce, water, veggie base, parsley, and S&P to taste.  I mashed the whole tomatoes up.

I brought to a simmer for a half hour.

Meanwhile, I cooked the pasta and drained it.

I stirred it in and combined well.

I added the hard mozza, half the Parmesan and the marble cheese, then gave a quick stir.

I covered with the rest of the fresh mozza.

I put a lid over and left covered for 10 minutes on low heat, until cheese was melted.  I plated and garnished with the remaining Parmesan and parsley.  The recipe said to serve with Worcestershire sauce on the side and that sounded like a damn fine idea to me.  To me it's what made this dish great.

This was comforting for sure and just what the doctor ordered for my hangover.  It was meaty, ooey-gooey cheesy, carby, a bit spicy and hit the spot.