Country Skillet Supper

I was looking through my pantry the other day and found a few cans of Campbell's condensed soups. Since we are mid-winter here in New England, I am a little souped-out. I decided to look through my "Campbell's Collection" cookbook to find a recipe to use up one of those cans of soup. I found the Country Skillet Supper which looked great on paper and tasted amazing when dinner was ready!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (I used ground chicken)
1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)
1/8 tsp garlic powder or 1 clove garlic, minced
1 can (10.5 ounces) Campbell's Condensed Golden Mushroom Soup
1 can (10.5 ounces)     
beef broth
1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 small zucchini, sliced (about 1 cup)
1 (8 ounce) package of chopped mushrooms
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves, crushed
1 1/2 cups uncooked corkscrew macaroni (about 1/2 box)
Shredded cheddar cheese (to taste)

Directions:
1. In medium skillet over medium-high heat, cook beef, onion and garlic until beef is browned, stirring to separate meat. Pour off fat.This is actually the time I added the zucchini and mushrooms to the pan, instead of when the liquids went in, so they had a change to brown up a little. 

2. Add soup, broth, tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms and thyme. Heat to a boil. Stir in pasta. Reduce heat to low. Cook 15 minutes or until pasta is done, stirring often. Serves 4. Of course I tried to be difficult and cooked the pasta ahead of time. So all I did was simmer the sauce and add the paste in at the end to heat through. Next time I won't do this because I think the sauce will be thicker by adding the uncooked pasta.

Could this recipe be any easier? It only has two steps! This is a great one to make on a weeknight. It is a hearty dish you can make it one pan - you get meat, veggies and starch all combined. Shaun and I had a ton of leftovers so we ate it for lunch the next day and it was just as good. I added some shredded cheddar cheese on top when re-heating it in the microwave which was a smart idea on my part! On the side I used store-bought cornbread mix and added in a few scallions to make Scallion Cornbread. It was good to have something to soak up the liquid. Tutti Mangia!