085Spaghetti with meat sauce

Method

Classic home version. Serve immediately with extra grated cheese on the side.

You will need

• wide heavy saucepan
• large pasta pot
• colander
• cheese grater

1. Heat 60 ml of olive oil in a wide heavy saucepan over medium-high heat, add 1 finely chopped onion, and cook for 5 minutes until soft and translucent. 5 min Ready when: soft and translucent
2. Add 500 g minced beef, breaking it apart thoroughly with a wooden spoon, and fry for 7 to 8 minutes until browned and no longer pink. 8 min Ready when: browned and no pink remaining
3. Stir in 2 minced garlic cloves and 1 tbsp tomato paste, cooking for 1 minute until the paste darkens and smells sweet. 1 min Ready when: fragrant and darkened paste
4. Pour in 80 ml red wine, scraping the brown bits from the base of the pan, and simmer for 2 minutes until the alcohol has evaporated. 2 min Ready when: liquid reduced by half
5. Add 400 g chopped tinned tomatoes, 1 cinnamon stick, 3 allspice berries, 1 bay leaf, 1 tsp salt, and a pinch of black pepper, then lower heat to gentle simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes until thick. 30 min Ready when: thick and rich sauce
6. Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a rolling boil and cook 500 g spaghetti until al dente according to package instructions, then drain, reserving a small splash of water. 10 min Ready when: al dente
7. Return the empty pasta pot to low heat, melt 30 g butter, toss the drained spaghetti in the melted butter to coat, and divide onto warm plates. 2 min Ready when: pasta glossy with butter
8. Discard the cinnamon stick and bay leaf from the sauce, ladle the thick meat sauce over the pasta, and shower with 80 g grated kefalograviera. 1 min Ready when: cheese melting gently into sauce

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Make ahead and storing

The meat sauce keeps wonderfully and can be made up to two days ahead.

Keep leftover meat sauce in the fridge for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.

Substitutions

• minced lamb or half pork half beef for minced beef. Yields a deeper, richer sauce.
• dry grated mizithra, pecorino, or parmesan for kefalograviera or mizithra. Aged mizithra is the traditional rustic choice.

Common mistakes

• Using ground cinnamon excessively instead of a whole stick. Ground cinnamon can easily overpower the beef and turn the sauce muddy.
• Leaving the sauce too watery. The sauce needs to be cooked down until dense so it clings to the pasta rather than pooling at the bottom.

Regional variants

• In the Peloponnese, a pinch of ground clove is often added alongside the cinnamon.

About the dish

A beloved staple of every Greek household, makaronia me kima is distinct from Italian ragù through its warm spicing. Ground cinnamon, allspice, and occasionally cloves perfume the slow-simmered beef mince. Historically, dried pasta gained widespread popularity across Greece in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, quickly adapted with Ottoman-inflected sweet spices. It is customarily served piping hot over thick strands of tubular spaghetti or standard pasta, crowned generously with salty, grated hard sheep or goat cheese.

Found in all of Greece. Cooked for everyday, sunday lunch.

Cousins elsewhere

• Ragù alla bolognese (Italian). Italian ragù relies on a soffritto and milk, whereas the Greek version is defined by cinnamon, allspice, and a sweet tomato base.

Nutrition per serving (estimate)

1050 kcal · protein 47.7 g · fat 47.2 g (saturated 17.7 g) · carbohydrate 103.1 g (sugars 9.6 g) · fibre 6.9 g · sodium 448 mg

An estimate (summed from ingredient estimates) that varies with the exact ingredients. It is not dietary advice.

Written fresh by Epikouria editors from general culinary tradition. Recipe by the Epikouria editors. Following the Athenian family dinner tradition, defined by buttery pasta and intensely spiced meat sauce..

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