Recipe of the Week: Open-Faced Sloppy Joes

Put down the Manwich sauce! This is a homemade sloppy joe recipe that will convince you to make them from scratch every time. And honestly, who couldn't eat these every night of the week?

OPEN-FACED SLOPPY JOES

1 loaf French bread, sliced on bias into 1" slices
2-3 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1½ lbs. ground chuck
½ green bell pepper, small dice
½ white onion, small dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz. tomato paste
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. dry ground mustard
1¼ tsp. kosher salt
cayenne pepper to taste
1 dash hot sauce (optional)
4 tbsp. light brown sugar
Olive oil to cook

1. Preheat frying pan to medium low heat and add 2 tbsp. oil. Sweat onion and pepper for about 5 minutes, stirring or tossing consistently. Season with salt and pepper. At this time, preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Turn heat to medium high and move onions and peppers to periphery of pan so they're not on direct heat. Add ground chuck and fresh garlic, season with salt, pepper, garlic powder, dry mustard and cayenne, and cook for 10 minutes or until beef is fully cooked.

3. Turn heat under pan to low and add tomato paste and incorporate into beef. Then add Worcestershire, brown sugar, hot sauce, and season again with a bit of salt and pepper.

4. Arrange bread on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake on middle rack of oven for 10 minutes, or until golden brown.

5. After bread is removed from oven, set oven to broil. Using a tablespoon, scoop beef from pan and add a heaping mound to each slice of toast. Next, top each slice with a nice handful of cheddar cheese.

6. Broil sloppy joes about 8" from heating element for 3 minutes, or until cheese is fully melted.

Serves 8-10.