What does a pasta dish look like after a Persian makeover? How do you turn a classic Italian ingredient into Persian comfort food? This is Makaroni, the Persian pasta!
First, you boil the pasta until it’s al dente, then layer it in a pot with a tomato-meat sauce infused with Persian spices. Before cooking, the pasta at the bottom of the pot is prepared to form a crispy tahdig, similar to the prized Persian crust in basmati rice dishes. The tahdig can be made with the pasta itself, as shown here, or with potatoes or tortillas.
Let’s face it: not much about Iran is simple. Ours is a complex, dynamic culture filled with subtle and endearing nuances embedded in our language, gestures, and expressions. Yet, when it comes to pasta, we’ve taken the opposite approach and truly simplified it! Pappardelle, farfalle, campanelle, bucatini, orecchiette, penne, spaghetti, fettuccine, and a dozen other types of pasta can be confusing to remember. In Iran, every pasta—regardless of its actual name—is simply called makaroni (maa-kah-roni). Similarly, almost all condiments and sauces are referred to as sohce!
So next time you are having a hard time remembering all the different varieties of pasta, you can thank an Iranian for simplifying it for you!
Laughter!
Makaroni
Ingredients
Meat sauce
- 1 onion, diced
- 5 tablespoons oil, divided
- 1 pound beef, ground
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt, adjust to your taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper, ground
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, ground
- 1 teaspoon Advieh, (Persian spice mix), optional
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup water
- 1 fresh lemon, juiced
Pasta
- 12 cups water
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 pound bucatini pasta, or spaghetti
Instructions
Meat sauce
- In a large frying pan, saute the onions with 3 tablespoons oil over medium heat for 10 minutes or until translucent.
- Add the ground meat and continue to saute for 5 minutes on medium-high heat, or until the meat has turned light brown.
- Add garlic, salt, pepper, turmeric, Advieh (if using), and tomato paste, and stir over medium-high heat for 5 additional minutes.
- Once all the spices and tomato paste have been well incorporated into the meat, add 1 cup of water and lemon juice, cover, reduce heat to low, and cook for 5 additional minutes. Set aside.
Pasta
- Bring 12 cups of water and salt to a boil in a large pot.
- Add the bucatini pasta, stir, and cook on high heat for 10 minutes. Pasta should still be somewhat al dente at the end of the boiling process.
- Drain the pasta using a colander and rinse ever so briefly to remove some but not all of the starch.
Assembly and cooking
- Select a non-stick pot that's big enough to cook the pasta and meat in, without a lot of extra room. The pot should ideally be about two-thirds full.
- Place the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in the pot, and decoratively cover the bottom of the pot with some of the slightly rinsed pasta. I make spirals out of 4-5 strands of pasta each, covering the bottom of the pot with as many spirals as necessary.
- Add 1/3 of the remaining pasta, followed by 1/3 of the meat sauce. Continue alternating until all the pasta and meat sauce have been placed in the pot.
- Wrap the lid with a clean towel and place on top of the pot. This will allow the pasta to steam.
- Allow the pasta to steam over medium-low heat for 40 minutes.
- Once the pasta is cooked, cautiously and swiftly invert the pasta out of the pot onto a large serving platter.
- Serve with a side of Torshi, Persian pickled vegetables.
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