Persian Macaroni
Persian Spaghetti, more commonly known as Macaroni is a popular Persian dish made with pasta, ground beef, green pepper, onion and crushed tomatoes.
It has a crispy bottom called Tahdig. Tahdig is the golden crust that forms at the bottom of the pot when cooking pasta and is often served as a special treat alongside Persian Macaroni.
Yield: Serves 5
- 300 g extra lean ground beef
- 450 g Rotini pasta, or any kind of pasta you like
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 1 large green pepper, diced
- 1 cup crushed tomatoes
- 1 medium tomato, diced
- 2 small yellow potatoes, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
- 1 1/2 teaspoons turmeric powder
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano leaves
- salt & pepper to taste
- vegetable oil
Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes.
Increase heat to medium-high; add ground beef and cook until no longer pink.
Add turmeric, crushed tomatoes, 1 1/4 cups water, salt and pepper. Cover the pot and simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes.
Then add green pepper, tomato and oregano. Cook covered for 18-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Adjust seasonings and set aside.
In a large non-stick pot, bring 14-15 cups of water to a boil over high heat. Add 1 teaspoon salt and 1 tablespoon oil.
Add pasta and cook uncovered for 10-11 minutes (do not cook it completely). Drain in a colander and set aside.
In the same pot, add 4 tablespoons of oil and arrange potato slices in an even layer in bottom of pot. Season with salt.
Add half of the pasta.
Then add half of the meat mixture.
Add the remaining pasta. Then top with the remaining meat mixture and mix a little. Drizzle with 5 tablespoons oil.
Put the lid on and cook over medium heat until it begins to steam, about 4-5 minutes.
Then wrap a kitchen towel around underside of the pot lid, making sure it is secured on top and away from heat.
Reduce heat to low and cook for approximately 35-40 minutes. When it is ready, transfer to a serving dish.
For crispy potato crust (Tahdig); carefully remove the crispy potatoes with a spatula. If there are not as crispy as they should be, turn up the heat to medium for 3-5 more minutes and then remove from heat.
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Thanks
thanks alot, this really really helped me :)
very delicious.
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm