Greek Macaroni With Meat Sauce

Total Time: 1 hr 15 mins Preparation Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 1 hr

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 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

Recipe

• 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.