Meat Spaghetti Recipe

I believe that meat spaghetti is one of those universal dishes enjoyed by all!

 

The origin of pasta may be Southern Italy, but after the spread of pasta factories, its popularity spread to the rest of Italy, then Europe and nowadays all over the globe. Different countries have adapted pasta into their cuisine; I guess it will be pretty hard to find a country that doesn’t have at least one pasta or spaghetti dish! I am not sure how many versions of the Spaghetti dish there are, but I will guess in the hundreds if not thousands! 

Personally, I enjoy spaghetti in any way and form. What I also like about this particular Meat Spaghetti dish is that I can have different presentations of it! As I wrote in earlier posts, I normally cook for two days. The portion for the meat sauce under ingredients below is enough for preparing two different meals (each is enough for 5-6 people).

The first day I prepare a meat spaghetti casserole and on the following day we have the spaghetti and meat sauce separate; everyone assembles their own spaghetti plate. For my girls they find this a treat!

Meat Spaghetti Recipe

Preparation time: 15 min               Cook time: 40 min

Ingredients:

For the meat sauce:

1/3     cup vegetable oil (Canola, corn or sunflower) 
3        large onions, finely diced
7        large cloves garlic, finely diced or crushed
1        kilogram minced beef meat
2        teaspoons mixed spices
2        teaspoons allspice
1        teaspoon cinnamon
1        teaspoon ground black pepper
3        carrots, grated (about 1½ cup)
400    grams fresh mushrooms, chopped  (you can use canned, but fresh taste better)
3½     teaspoon salt
1        teaspoon sugar
30      ml red vinegar (grape or apple) or you can use  ¼ cup red wine
4        large tomatoes (about 200 grams each), grated
¼       cup tomato paste
½       tablespoon dried rosemary, crushed
2        cups water

For the spaghetti casserole:

½       of the prepared meat sauce
1        pack (500 grams) spaghetti
¾       cup pasta water (the water you boiled the pasta in)
3        tablespoons tomato ketchup
100    grams mozzarella cheese, grated
100    grams kashkaval cheese, grated

For individual meat spaghetti plates:

½       of the prepared meat sauce
1        pack (500 grams) spaghetti
100    grams mozzarella cheese, grinded
100    grams kashkaval cheese, grinded

How to make Meat Spaghetti:

Meat sauce:

• In a large pan heat the oil then add the onions and garlic. Sauté until the color of the onions just about starts to turn yellowish.
• Add the minced meat, mixed spices, allspice, cinnamon and black pepper. Mix well, then add the carrots and mix for a few minutes. When the meat starts to cook and change color add the fresh mushrooms. Keep cooking on medium-high speed while tossing the mixture until the beef is browned and most of the meat juice evaporates.
• Add the salt, mix, then add the grated tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, tomato paste, water and rosemary. Mix well. Once mixture starts boiling, reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.    

Meat Spaghetti Casserole:

• In a pan, heat water.  Once it boils add ½ teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon oil. Then add the spaghetti and cook until fully cooked but still firm and not soft (this is referred to as “pasta al dente”.  Make sure you don’t overcook the spaghetti as you will later be baking them in the oven.
• Separate ¾ cup of the pasta water then drain the pasta.
• Mix the pasta water with the tomato ketchup. If you don’t like using ketchup you can skip the ketchup and use plain pasta water .
• Layer half the pasta in a medium size glass oven-proof dish. I use an oval shaped dish that is 35cm X 23cm (approximately 14 inches X 9 inches).



• Layer the meat sauce over the pasta (this includes some of the sauce juices and not only the meat) . Remember to use only half of the sauce you cooked.



• Cover with the remaining half of the pasta.
• Pour the pasta water on top.
• Mix the two cheeses together and sprinkle to cover the whole top of the spaghetti casserole.



• Bake casserole in oven for about 20-30 minutes until cheese-top starts to brown.

Make your own Meat Spaghetti dish:

• Cook pasta as per instructions under casserole.
• Heat the meat sauce.
• Serve in separate dishes along with cheese and each person assembles his own dish.  My kids just love this! They have cheese in the middle, on top. Sometimes they mix the spaghetti and meat, other times they layer.

Hope you enjoyed today’s easy recipe: Meat Spaghetti. Bon appetite.

It is always fun to eat spaghetti!  Do you like spaghetti? How do you like it best?

اضغط الرابط لقراءة وصفة المعكرونة باللحمة باللغة العربية