Macaroni with Fried Meat
An Armenian dish of pasta with ground meat
Servings: 8
Ingredients
- 1 lb Ground Beef or Lamb
- 4 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 cup Onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves Garlic finely minced
- 1 Red Bell Pepper finely chopped
- 1 6 oz can Tomato Paste
- 1 1/2 cups Crushed Tomatoes
- 1/4 cup Water
- 1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon Allspice
- 1/2 teaspoon Aleppo Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt
To Serve:
- Serve with either, plain yogurt, or plain yogurt with a small amount of minced yogurt and a pinch of salt in it.
Instructions
- In a large saute pan, melt the butter and then saute the ground meat breaking it up, until cooked and no longer pink.
- Add the onion and garlic and continue cooking for 5 more minutes stirring occasionally.
- Mix in the red pepper, crushed tomatoes, tomato paste,water, black pepper, allspice, Aleppo pepper and salt.Stir and bring to a boil.Simmer for 5 minutes. Turn off heat and set aside.
- Boil 1 lb of macaroni according to the package directions.Drain the pasta and mix with the meat mixture.
- Transfer to a 9x13 baking dish or pan.
- Bake at 350 for 30-35 minutes.
Modifications
I put the garlic in the food processor. When it didn’t jump around in the bowl anymore, I added the onion and processed it until it was chopped.
I cut the red pepper by hand but I think it could be chopped by itself in the food processor as well.
***I was so excited to find a new way to cook pasta! Since I can’t get a boiling pot of pasta off of the stove safely in a wheelchair, I cooked it in very little water in my Instant Pot and used a slotted spoon to remove it from the very little water left in it. I put 3 cups of water and a ¼ teaspoon of salt in the Instant Pot and then added 1 lb. of macaroni. I used the manual setting to cook it for 3 minutes and then immediately did a quick release and spooned the macaroni into a bowl.