Greece travel

Greece Pasta recipes

 
The world knows that Italians are the world's pasta specialists and eaters. To my opinion Greeks are also great pasta eaters. The last 3 decades pasta and spaghetti plus Pizza, have become probably the national food of Greece. Since Fasolada (been stew) lost the privilege of being our national food, Spaghetti is the easiest quick food solution for the Greeks. Thousands of Pizza and Pasta take away all over the country deliver at home Spaghetti Carbonara , Spaghetti Bolognese , Napolitana, Arabiata, and all kind of Pizza.
But the Greek most popular pasta is the Greek Spaghetti Bolognese or Makaronia me kima (Spaghetti with mince meat)
There is a big deference in taste and flavour from the Italian Bolognese and all the difference is on the sauce, the Greeks love the flavour of gloves and cinnamon and that is what makes the difference. To a foreigner that would looks like a Christmas food because of the glove and cinnamon taste but believe me it tastes really good.
Here is the recipe for a typical Greek Spaghetti Bolognese or better to say Makaronia me kima (mincemeat).

Makaronia me Kima
The sauce:
For 3-4 people we need half kilo of Spaghetti , parmesan cheese or any kind of hard salted cheese like Cheddar cheese or Greek Kefalotyri, half kilo (one pound) of beef mincemeat, 2-3 gloves, a breeze of cinnamon, garlic, onions, tomato paste or a tin of peeled tomato, sunflower oil, a teaspoon of sugar, salt , pepper.
Method:
Fried in a pot with the oil one onion fine grated and 2-3 garlic pieces until they get brownish.
Insert the minced meat and steer until the meat becomes brownish. Pour 2 glasses of water with 2 big spoons of tomato paste or 1 tin of peeled tomatoes with one spoonful of tomato paste with one glass of water.
Add salt pepper, one tea spoon of sugar, 2-3 gloves and a bit of cinnamon (powder). When the sauce will start boil reduce the hit to 100 degrees and live it cooking slowly for 45 minutes.
Spaghetti: We cook the spaghetti as usual depending the way you like them, al dente or soft.

Makaronia me Saltsa (sauce)
This is the equivalent of Spaghetti Napolitana, the difference is again on the sauce. The sauce is almost identical with the above souse of Makaronia me kima with the difference that we don't add minced meat and gloves. Another type that taste very good is Spagetti with mind we use again the main ingredients as above without gloves, cinnamon and meat, instead we add a few lives of fresh mind or dry mind. the result is excelent.

Makaronia me Diosmo (Spaghetti with Mind)
This is the equivalent of Spaghetti Napolitana, the difference is again on the sauce. The sauce is almost identical with the above souse of Makaronia me kima with the difference that we don't add minced meat and gloves. Another type that taste very good is Spaghetti with mind we use again the main ingredients as above without gloves, cinnamon and meat, instead we add a few lives of fresh mind or dry mind. the result is excellent.

Makaronia me Kreas (Spaghetti with meat)
The recipe is the same as the Spagetti with minced meat but without gloves, you can use Pork meat, Beef, Lamb or chicken (Kota Kokinisti me Makaronia).
In all above dishes we do as above with the mincemeat with or without the gloves.
Other Greek pasta dishes are based on the names of the pasta type like Kritharaki ,Kofto Makaroni ,Fides. Kritharaki and Kofto Makaroni cooked as a stew and are very easy, you only have to boill water add some oil salt grated onion tomato paste and the Pasta, live them to cook for 30 minutes.

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