Greek Macaroni With Meat Sauce

pattikay in L.A.'s Note:

This is a sauce with nice flavor from Greek Cooking for the Gods, posted for ZWT IV. I like it with a bit of crushed red pepper added in, and as one reviewer said, it's also good with some black olives added.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 8

• 1/4 cup olive oil (or butter)
• 1 -2 onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 -2 lb lean ground beef
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 cup dry white wine
• salt, to taste
• 1 -2 lb uncooked macaroni (or other pasta)
• 1 1/2 cups parmesan cheese (or kefalotyri, if you have it)
• 1/2 cup butter

Directions:

1. In a large, deep skillet over medium high heat, warm oil.
2. Add onions and garlic and saute till translucent (about 5 minutes).
3. Add beef and brown well, breaking meat up as it cooks.
4. Stir in cloves, cinnamon, bay leaf, tomatoes, tomato paste and wine. Stir, reduce heat and simmer till thick and flavors are well blended (about 1 hour).
5. Adjust seasonings.
6. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add macaroni and cook according to package directions, or till just tender to the bite (15-20 minutes). Drain well. (the original recipe calls for 2 lbs of pasta - this sounded like a huge amount to me, so use your own judgement regarding your own family's tastes).
7. Place half the macaroni on a large heated platter. Sprinkle generously with cheese. Place remaining macaroni on top and sprinkle again with cheese.
8. Melt butter in a large skillet over medium high heat till it foams and turns golden brown, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon so that it does not burn.
9. Pour butter over macaroni then spoon some of the meat sauce over the top.
10. Serve macaroni with remaining meat sauce in a bowl alongside. Pass additional cheese and serve immediately.

Reviews

[Leah947]

Excellent! It's similar to the Greek dish, Pastitsio but much easier to make.

[Andi of Longmeadow Farm]

As the previous review, evelyn said the is a great recipe. My family adored this. Easy enough to put together and followed this exactly. The clove-cinnamon mixture really made this stand out, as did the garlic. I added a bit of olives to mine and this was just so yummy! The browned butter on top of the macaroni tasted very smooth and mixed in beautifully. Thanks pattikay in L.A. Made for *ZWT4* June 2008.

[evelyn/athens]

Great recipe. I loved the addition of cloves, which is something I don't often add when I make my version of greek spaghetti - a dash is lovely, but be careful not too add too much or it tastes like meat toothpaste! My family LOVED this recipe. Thanks.