The Depression-Era Pasta Dish That Made Use Of Condensed Soup And Spices

With grocery prices continuing to climb and food scarcity a real and growing concern, many people have turned to Depression-era recipes for inspiration in stretching their meals and grocery budget further. Foods people ate during the Great Depression tended to include carb-heavy and starchy ingredients, including rice and potatoes, in addition to canned goods like tinned fish and condensed soups. One pasta dish that is seeing a resurgence in popularity is known as Irish-Italian spaghetti, notable for its use of canned condensed tomato soup and canned cream of mushroom soup to create a filling and flavorful sauce.

Albeit a far cry from traditional, this dish exemplified the notion that necessity is the mother of invention. In fact, a recipe for Irish-Italian spaghetti was featured in a 1940 issue of Better Homes and Gardens Magazine and is still highly sought-after today. The basic ingredients include lean ground beef, chopped onion, the two condensed soups, a dash of cayenne pepper, bottled hot sauce, black pepper, chili powder, and shredded Parmesan cheese to complement a pound of spaghetti.

Spicy, filling, and bursting with comforting flavors, this dish proved how ingenuity and culinary creativity can prevail to make a satisfying meal with what you have on hand. What's more, modern iterations of the classic recipe can take on a new life with updated and upgraded ingredients.

Start by cooking the ground beef and draining any excess fat before adding the chopped onions, soup, spices, and sauces. Let it simmer over medium heat before cooking your choice of pasta, draining, and combining with the cooked sauce. It's also a good idea to reserve some of the pasta water to add to your sauce to enrich it with some of the starch. Finish with Parmesan cheese.

This recipe is simple and adaptable to suit a variety of different tastes and dietary needs. For example, if you're not a fan of Parmesan cheese or don't happen to have any, you can easily create a clever cheese-free mix known as "Poor Man's Parmesan" using toasted breadcrumbs and spices. A shake of nutritional yeast can also provide a dairy-free and protein-rich cheesy-flavored addition.

As far as the ground beef base, try swapping in ground pork, turkey, or even plant-based crumbles as desired. With so many different types of pasta to choose from, you don't have to limit yourself to simple spaghetti either. The sauce is what makes the dish, meaning it can accommodate just about any shape or style of pasta in your pantry. Though a seemingly unconventional recipe at first, this Depression-era recipe is a delicious taste of history that can provide comfort even in uncertain times.