Bacon Mushroom Cheeseburger Skillet

                                   
This cheesy masterpiece was for dinner last night. Its like a totally amped up version of hamburger helper, but home made. I made this on the fly, knowing what ingredients in my pantry and fridge I wanted to use. It really didn't take to long either, maybe about 30- 40 minutes. Best part is, everything was cooked in the same skillet! Score on a 1 pan cleanup!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 medium onion, diced
• olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2-1 cup of sliced mushrooms
• 4-6 slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled
• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 2 chicken bouillon cubes
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 small can (10oz) ro-tel tomatoes and chili
• 8 oz pasta of your choice (we used cavatappi )
• 3/4 cup velvetta cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar
• 1/4- 1/2 cup diced pickles for topping

In a large cast iron skillet heat some olive oil over medium/high heat. Add in onions, and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Add in ground beef, and cook until mostly browned. Add in mushrooms and cook with beef and onions for about 5-7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Drain excess grease from the pan.

Add in the water, milk, tomatoes, bouillon cubes and pasta. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Cover and reduce heat to medium. Let pasta boil for about 15 minutes or until its tender and cooked through.

Remove pan from heat. Stir everything and if there is a lot of extra water, drain out of pan. Add in the velvetta and crumbled bacon, stir until its melted and everything is combined. Top with shredded cheese, and place under broiler for 3-4 minutes until the cheese gets all bubbly. Be careful the skillet will be extremely hot! Sprinkle diced pickles on top, and serve.

This was extremely cheesy. Which isn't a bad thing! I think I may have needed to add more pasta, because the meat to pasta ratio was a little off. Besides those minor things, this tasted exactly like a bacon cheeseburger! And there isn't anything wrong with that!