Bucatini with slowly cooked rich meat sauce scented with mild spices

Who can resist a dish full of tasty pasta poured with a luscious meat sauce on top? Not many people I think and it is one of our favourite dishes at home. We love pasta and I have a special reference to the thick macaroni and I think this recipe tastes always better with such a kind of pasta! Biased? Maybe...:-) This meat sauce is inspired, in a way, from the Italian bolognese (cooked by an excellent cook with roots back to Italy) but at the same time it is fully adjusted to the habits of cooking we follow in Greece when it comes to such kind of recipes. It is a really family-friendly recipe and the type of comfort-food suitable for all seasons!

Slightly adapted from a recipe of Ektoras Botrini,

a distinguished Greek-Italian Head Cook and restaurateur

"Cook Book" magazine of "ETHNOS" newspaper

Ingredients (for 4-6 people):
500 gr. of Bucatini pasta

1 Kg of ground beef, passed only once through the meat grinder
2-3 tbsp of olive oil

100 gr. of carrots, roughly grated (or cut in small cubes)

200 gr. of yellow onion, finely grated

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tbsp of finely chopped flat-leaf parsley

500 gr. of ripe tomatoes, peeled and roughly chopped

50 gr. of tomato paste

200 ml of red dry wine

300 ml of water

1 bay leaf

2 whole cloves
½ tsp of ground cinnamon (optional)
½ tsp of ground all-spice (optional)

3/4 tsp of salt

½ tsp of black pepper

½ tsp of granulated sugar
Greek Kefalotyri cheese, grated to sprinkle (or parmesan or pecorino)

Method:

Boil the pasta in plenty of salted water until they are al dente and not longer, drain in a colander, transfer back to the pot and keep them warm.You can drizzle with a bit of olive oil so not to stick together.

In a spacious and shallow pot, warm the oil in medium-high heat and sauté the mince, stirring with a wooden spatula until it changes colour. Add in the pot the carrots and the onion and sauté for another 2-3 minutes.

Add the tomato paste, stir thoroughly and pour over with the wine. Allow the alcohol to evaporate and then add the tomatoes, the sugar, the parsley, the bay leaf, the cloves and the rest of the spices (if used), season with salt and pepper and add warm water- enough just to cover the meat.

Cover the pot with the lid, turn the heat down to low, and simmer the meat sauce for 2 hours.

Serve in warm plates, pouring the sauce on top of the macaroni and sprinkling with plenty of cheese.