Open faced ground beef with tomato sauce on spinach

We haven't been cooking much lately - pretty much due to the fact that we have no kitchen. Literally. Kitchen renovations are exciting, expensive, and disruptive. And for us, we have experienced scope creep, so it is encompassing almost the entire first level of our house now. Everything is covered in plastic, and we have no more inner walls in the kitchen area, no dishwasher or stove, very little counter space and a temporary sink. Oh yeah, and no lights, and only a couple working plugs. We did keep our fridge, which rolls around as required plugged in to an extension cord, and we use a construction work light. The microwave works, and is perched on box.  All this to say it is hard to cook anything. We've been BBQ'ing a bit, and we have a university style two burner deal. But we have to unplug the fridge temporarily to use it. But really, it is exciting to know what is coming!

Open-faced ground beef with tomato sauce on spinach

When SO threw this concoction together, it was like decadent heaven!  Objectively, it really was tasty, although that was mostly due to the tomato sauce that was made by our Italian friend (no really). The other part was the bun which is fresh from the Portuguese bakery, sold at our local butcher, along with the ground beef we used. We did this in the slow cooker, but that was just convenience for us. It was not browned, but it was soft and tender. Browning the meat is just too complicated for our current setup, plus not everyone thinks that you have to get that Maillard reaction going every time meat comes out of the fridge. There are also in between views on the topic - see Alton's opinion.  Finally, add some spinach between everything just so there is something green and healthy in the mix.

Next Time:  maybe try Alton's dual method, i.e. brown only part of the meat

Me: 9/10
SO: 9/10
SSO: n/a

Open Faced Ground Beef with Tomato Sauce on Spinach
Ingredients

• 1lb ground beef (extra lean if you are not browning)
• 1/2 a small onion, or 1/4 of a large one
• fresh tomato pasta sauce from an Italian friend (or your own home made, or a can if need be)
• generous handful of mushrooms, sliced
• slice, diced, or crushed garlic
• salt & pepper
• enough spinach to make a bed for however many people you are serving
• some fresh bread / buns / whatever for the bottom layer

Method

1. Heat a bit of oil, soften the onion and garlic.
2. Brown the beef, or some of the beef, or none of it, as per your choice.
3. Dump into slow cooker with the tomato sauce. Salt and pepper it.
4. You can add the mushroom toward the end if you want a bit of substance to them.
5. Cook for a few hours on high, or a few more on low.
6. Layer some spinach on fresh bread, then spoon on the goop.