Makaroni
Pasta with tomato and meat sauce
Servings: 4
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)
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup water
- 1 fresh lemon, juiced
Pasta
- 10-12 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 and tomato paste, and stir over medium-high heat for 5 additional minutes.
- Once the 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
- In a large pot bring 10-12 cups of water and the salt to a boil.
- Add the bucatini pasta and 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 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 has 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 a 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.
Notes
Advieh – Persian spice mix: Combine equal portions of ground cardamom, cinnamon, cumin, coriander and rose petals. Store in a dark and airtight container for future use.
Alternatively, you can arrange a layer of potatoes or a tortilla in the bottom of the pot to create a potato or bread Tahdig.
You can replace the beef with ground turkey or lamb if you prefer.
To create a vegan dish, replace the beef with a variety of mushrooms and eggplants.