Spaghetti Bolognese Persian Style

Spaghetti Bolognese Persian Style

There's always a recipe that can be made your own and this one has certainly been given the full Persian treatment!

The love of food and adding your own special flavours to a dish have made this a favourite, not only because we love pasta, but also because when you cook this particular spaghetti dish, you'll get all the crispiness and similarity to the well known and loved Tahdig (crispy rice base). See I told you, it's Persian style ;)

Ingredients

1 onion

1/3 cup oil

500g minced lamb

1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp paprika

1 tsp dry tarragon

2 tbsp tomato puree

4 bay leaves

1/4 tsp ground saffron

4 cloves garlic crushed

1 tbsp dry leek

5 bunches of spaghetti (keep the length)

7 cups of water

Method

Step 1

• Add the oil to a large pot

• Finely chop the onions

• Fry in the oil until golden brown

• Add the minced lamb and fry on high heat for 5 minutes

Step 2

• Add the black pepper, salt and paprika

• Stir until all the dry ingredients have mixed well into the minced meat

• Lower the heat to medium

• Add the tomato puree and stir into the minced meat

• Add the dry tarragon and leek and give a final mix

Step 3

• Add the water

• Add the crushed garlic, saffron and bay leaves

• Give a good stir and cover the top of the pot

• Allow to boil over a medium heat for 15 minutes

Step 4

• Add the spaghetti making sure you keep the length

• Allow the spaghetti to soften a bit before you cover the top of the pot

• After 30 minutes lower the heat and check if the pasta has cooked, it should be well over al dente

• Remove from the heat and take out the bay leaves

Step 5

• Oil a round baking tin, 20" by 20"

• Add the spaghetti to the tin, try not to add the Bolognese sauce to it

• Place in the oven at Gas Mark 5 or 200°C for 30 to 45 minutes, checking every 20 minutes to ensure you reach the crispiness you like

• Remove from the oven and turn over to show-off the crispy base

Note: Don't worry if you have extra spaghetti, I used my cupcake tray to make crispy spaghetti cupcakes! :)

Step 6

• If the Bolognese sauce is runny, return to the heat and reduce

Enjoy this wonderfully crispy spaghetti with the Bolognese sauce on the side or poured over it. Noosh-e-Jaan :)