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Makaronia me kima — Greek spaghetti with cinnamon meat sauce

Why it worksCinnamon and bay leaves make Greek meat sauce different from Italian. It cooks until thick, almost like chilli.

Ingredients

• 500 g beef mince
• 200 g onions
• 10 g garlic
• 400 g chopped tomatoes
• 40 g tomato purée
• 2 g cinnamon
• 2 g bay leaves
• 20 ml olive oil
• 400 g pasta
• 80 g grated gouda

Method

1. Chop the onion and garlic. Heat the olive oil in a large pot on medium heat. Cook them for 5 minutes, until soft.
2. Turn the heat to high. Add the mince and fry for 8 minutes, breaking it up, until brown with no pink left.
3. Stir in the tomato purée and cinnamon for 1 minute. Add the chopped tomatoes, the bay leaves and 300 ml of water.
4. Let it bubble gently without a lid for 30 minutes, stirring now and then, until thick. Take out the bay leaves. Taste and add salt.
5. Near the end, cook the pasta as the packet says. Serve the sauce on the pasta with the cheese on top.

A portion: about 850 kcal · 44 g protein · 82 g carbs · 36 g fat