One of the easy and popular meals in our home is macaroni. This is the Iranian version of pasta with meat sauce. Any kind of pasta could be used for this dish. I usually make it with thin spaghetti. However this time I used rigatoni instead. We cook the pasta and the sauce together afterward. It could be baked in the oven or cooked on the stove top over low heat, either way it comes out very delicious.

 

 

Ingredients:

Serves 4-6

 

1 pound lean ground beef

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 bunches of fresh parsley, chopped

3 tablespoons oil

1 (24-ounce) can tomato paste

1 cup of water

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

Salt and pepper to taste

 

1 lb rigatoni or thin spaghetti

Water

Salt

 

Method:

 

In a skillet, saute onions in 2 tablespoon of oil, over medium heat until translucent, add garlic and saute for another five minutes. Add turmeric and stir well before putting the ground meat in the skillet. 

Brown meat on all sides while breaking it apart into very small pieces. Then add tomato paste, a cup of water, salt and pepper to taste. 

Simmer over low heat for about 45 minutes. Near the end add chopped parsley.

Cook pasta according to package direction. Set aside. 

In a nonstick pot add a one tablespoon of oil before layering the sauce and the pasta, starting with a large spoonful of the sauce at the bottom, and then adding a layer of pasta. Building it into a shape of pyramid. Cover and cook for 45 minutes to an hour on low heat before serving.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

Recipe and photo by: Azita