Pasta with country style meat sauce

"Makaronia me kima"... In Greek we have our own version of "bolognese" for the ground meat, full of aromas and taste. And no... it is not influenced by the Italian famous dish. Pasta with ground meat sauce, is one of the most popular pasta dishes in Greece that not many can resist regardless the season! This version today is a more "country style" one including feta cheese which gives extra flavour to the whole dish

Adapted from a recipe of Argyro Barbarigou,

a prominent Head Cook in Greece

Check out her great site Argiro for more recipes

 

Ingredients (for 4 people):

500gr. of spaghetti

600gr. of ground lamb, only once passed through the mincer (I used only beef)

1/3 tea-cup of olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

6 white mushrooms, finely chopped

1/2 tsp of dry thyme (I used 1 pinch of oregano)

2 tbsp of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped (optional -my addition)

1 bay leaf

1 tea-cup of red dry wine

800gr. fresh tomatoes, finely chopped (or concassé)

1 pinch of sugar

1/2 φλ. tea-cup of milk

1½ tea-cup of feta cheese, crumbled

salt

pepper

Method:

In a medium size pot warm the oil in low heat.

Add the onions along with the garlic and the mushrooms and sauté for about 6-7 minutes stirring frequently. Increase the heat to medium-high and add the meat. Add the thyme and the bay leaf.

Sauté the meat until it changes colour, stirring with a wooden spoon, making sure that the meat juices will evaporate. Pour over the red wine and stir.

Then add the tomatoes, the milk, the sugar, salt and pepper and stir. Turn the heat to low and leave the sauce to cook slowly for about 30-35 minutes.

In the meantime, boil the spaghetti according to your preference. Drain in a colander and return the pasta into the pot.

Add 2 heaped tbsp of the meat sauce in the pasta along with 1 tea-cup of the crumbled feta cheese and stir well.

Place the pasta on a (warmed) serving dish and pour over with the rest of the sauce.

Sprinkle on top with the rest of the feta cheese and serve immediately.