Hut Trip Beef and Mozzarella Skillet Bake
A one-pot version of the family-style hut dinner: ground beef, pasta, and melted mozzarella.
- calories
- 720
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 120
- protein
- 38 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 5 min
- cook
- 20 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- 700 ml boiled
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Canister stove
- Liquid fuel
- Campfire coals
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Backpacking
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Basic
Ingredients
| Small shell or elbow pasta | 6 oz | |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried ground beef | 3 oz | or a shelf-stable pouch of cooked beef crumbles |
| Shelf-stable mozzarella | 4 oz | the vacuum-sealed low-moisture kind, not fresh in brine |
| Tomato powder | 3 tbsp | reconstitutes into sauce with no can to carry |
| Dried onion and garlic | 2 tbsp | |
| Italian herbs | 1 tsp | |
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
| Salt and pepper | to taste | |
| Brown sugar | 1 tsp | takes the edge off the tomato powder |
Method
- Boil 700 ml of water. Add the pasta and the freeze-dried beef at the same time so the beef rehydrates while the pasta cooks.
- Cook 8 to 10 minutes, stirring so nothing welds to the bottom. Do not drain. The leftover water becomes the sauce.
- Take it off the heat. Stir in the tomato powder, dried onion and garlic, herbs, brown sugar, and oil.
- Put it back on the lowest flame for two minutes to thicken. Stir constantly.
- Kill the heat, scatter the cubed mozzarella over the top, and put the lid on for three minutes. Stir once and eat.
AMC hut dinners are cooked from scratch by a crew hauling real food up a mountain. Nobody carrying their own pack gets to do that, so this is the same idea rebuilt from things that keep: pasta, freeze-dried beef, tomato powder, and low-moisture mozzarella instead of a refrigerated brick.
The method matters more than the ingredients. Cooking pasta in exactly enough water and never draining it means the starch stays in the pot and turns the tomato powder into an actual sauce. Add the powder while the water is boiling and you get a scorched layer on the bottom. Add it off the heat and you get sauce.
Packing
Pasta, beef, tomato powder, alliums, herbs, sugar, salt, and pepper all go in one bag at home. Cheese and oil ride separately.
Variations
- Swap the beef for a foil pouch of chicken or a diced shelf-stable salami.
- A packet of instant potato flakes stirred in at the end thickens it further and adds a couple hundred calories.
- Cook it in a covered pot on a bed of campfire coals for a browner, more baked top.
https://www.pygmy-elephant.com/blog/a-hiker-s-guide-to-food-in-the-white-mountains-huts-1