To be precise, this meal, in today’s terms would be called ribbed penne with a beef ragu. But my mum never called it that, she called it macaroni and it was a regular on the menu in our house. It is a simple dish, something mum no doubt learnt from a Croatian woman somewhere, for mum wasn’t Croatian and because she married one, there had to be some kind of European representation on the dinner front. Let me reiterate, this dish is not fancy, in fact it is dead easy, and can be applied to many kinds of meats and dishes, which the Croatians often do (with chicken pieces and rice, fish stews, mince for spag bol). It does, however take time. Like the beef pie recipe, it can be cooked at a stretch in an hour if you cut the beef small. But this recipe gets significantly better after a few hours simmering on the stove, and even more so by an overnight stay in the fridge. This for me, is the ultimate comfort food. Cuts of beef suitable for this recipe are chuck steak, shin, skirt steak and stewing steak.
Macaroni Recipe
Ingredients:
500g Chuck steak, diced
1 diced onion
1 heaped tsp minced garlic
1 heaped tbl spn tomato paste
handful of parsley
Ribbed penne pasta
Method:
Saute onion and garlic
Turn heat up in pan and brown beef
Stir in tomato paste and cover with water.
Bring to boil, and then turn heat right down to simmer for as long as possible. Adding more water when needed
Season to taste.
Thicken with flour and water (see notes)
Boil up pasta and serve with Parmesan cheese.
Hi,
I discovered your blog in Google. I really think your blog is very informative, and you make cooking seem effortless. I admit that I am not a very good cook, but love food very much. I will definitely try out your recipes soon! (Macaroni will be the 1st. :p)
Cheers,
Ellyn
MMMMmmmm but remember the salt thing, nag nag nag.Mum
Thanks Mum.
I had tried the pasta recipe and it was good! 🙂 Next, burger or meatballs.
That’s great news!!! Was it as you expected? Or did it need some tweaking…
I will take any notes, and put them in ‘Notes on the recipe’
I like your blog, but can’t click on any of the links….they all say I have to log in or something? Are you in Indonesia?
Lara
It was good but I did not let it simmer long enough. I was starving! :p
Anyway, what links that you wanted to click? Comments? If yes, I think it’s because I set it to ‘registered users’ so that’s why you have to log in to comment. But I have changed the setting already. Please try again and let me know yea!
Thanks!
Ellyn