Growing up, we had a rotation of a half-dozen consistent dinners that my mom could whip up in a jiffy and guarantee little to no fuss from my terribly picky sister and me. 

For clarification, the designation of being “terribly picky” belonged solely to my sibling. 

That aside, boxed meat-and-pasta meal kits were a hearty standard in this rotation, straight from the box and slathered over a few slices of bread. Appetizing I know, but before you recoil from this quality foodstuff from the ‘70s, take heed: All cheap things can be made great again. 

It was with this in mind that I recently had an inspiration born of reminiscence. I decided I would make something similar, but with a bit of a twist based on what we had on hand. The primary ingredient I chose to replace was the hamburger itself. We just processed our meat goats here at the farm and I was itching to sample them. 

Additionally, those meals use American cheese or a low-cost shredded cheddar. It just so happened that I had a couple pounds of very tasty sharp white cheddar sliced for sandwiches. However the slices weren’t coming apart well and would just crumble; therefore, it made for a rich upgrade to an otherwise humble dish.

That food of my childhood calls for fairly lean beef, since the additional fat separates in the browning process and creates a separation of the liquids and doesn’t absorb into the pasta and cheese. Goatburger as a whole is fairly lean by nature, so it works well. 

With these amendments in mind, I decided finally to use a high-protein penne pasta instead of the traditional macaroni. You can use whatever kind you want, but that’s what I had, so that’s what I used. 

Of course this recipe holds up if you use regular burger, cheese and pasta, but I would encourage you to try goat if at all possible. It is very much overlooked and a rich and tasty alternative to beef in many instances. If you’ve tried sheep/lamb and not enjoyed that, I would further assure you that goat is entirely its own flavor. As for the cheese, I have never regretted the use of a higher-quality cheese. So if you have the means, do spoil yourself.

If you got this far and have a piping hot bowl ready to scarf down, take a moment for a very scientific test. The test is in two parts. First, stick your spoon directly in the middle of the bowl with the handle straight up. If it fails to fall to the side of the bowl, you have passed the first test. Second, tilt the bowl to the side as far as you can without spilling the contents. If you can turn it upside down without any coming out, you’ve officially passed the Hunter test and your meal is “stick-to-your-ribs” approved. 

The way out here we like a nice bowl of comfort food to fill our bellies. If we can make that bowl a tad fancier, then all the better.