Makaronatha
My stepmom makes this great dish called Beef Makaronatha. Essentially, beef and noodles. The sauce is really simple, but really tasty. Personally, I think this dish is made by the use of mizithra cheese. It just adds that extra tang and complements the beef really well. It's rare that I have mizithra on hand, since it's such a pain to get to the Greek market in Chicago, but when I do, I always make this.
My stepmom actually boils the meat before adding it back into the sauce, but I prefer browning it in the pan. Do whatever you like!
olive oil
1 lb. beef, fat trimmed and cut into chunks (stew meat works well)
1 small onion, diced
1 Tbsp. dried parsley
1 (8oz) can tomato sauce
1 cup water
1-2 bay leaves
4 whole allspice
salt and pepper to taste
Heat olive oil in a large skillet/saute pan. Season beef with salt and pepper and add to hot pan, browning on all sides. Remove from pan.
Add diced onion to the pain (and more oil, if necessary) and cook with the parsley until the onions are translucent.
Add in tomato sauce, water, bay leaf and allspice. Bring to just a boil and drop meat back in. Season to taste.
Cover and simmer on low heat for as long as you want. The longer the better--it will make the meat more tender.
If you want a thicker sauce, you can add a corn starch slurry at the end, or you can dredge the beef in some flour before browning.
Serve over pasta and sprinkle with mizithra cheese (well, if you want to do it the "right" and fatty way, you should add a little butter to the pasta, add cheese in with the pasta and then add more cheese at the end :)
Sorry for the terrible picture. I was getting really frustrated with my terrible stove. By the time this was done, I was so ready to eat. This is not good, considering I have to make this stove work for a year. Grr.
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