Μακαρόνια με Κιμά (Greek Spaghetti with Spiced Meat Sauce)
The quintessential Greek family classic: spaghetti heaped with a slow-cooked, rich beef mince sauce infused with cinnamon, whole allspice, cloves, and red wine, buried under grated Kefalotyri.
Ingredients
- • 400g Greek thick spaghetti (makaronia no. 6 or bucatini)
- • 500g minced beef chuck, 1 large onion finely minced, 2 cloves garlic
- • 1 cinnamon stick, 4 whole allspice berries (μπαχάρι), 1 bay leaf, 1/2 tsp ground clove
- • 80ml dry red wine, 400g crushed plum tomatoes, 1 tbsp tomato paste
- • 4 tbsp Greek olive oil, sea salt, sugar, black pepper, and grated Kefalotyri for serving
Preparation Steps
Heat olive oil in a Dutch oven. Sauté minced onion and garlic for 5 minutes. Add minced beef, breaking it apart with a wooden spoon until browned throughout.
Pour in red wine and reduce by half. Add the cinnamon stick, allspice berries, bay leaf, ground cloves, tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, a pinch of sugar, salt, and pepper.
Cover and simmer on low heat for 35-40 minutes until the sauce is deeply fragrant, thick, and glistening with olive oil. Discard whole spices.
Boil spaghetti in salted water until al dente. Drain, toss with 1 tbsp butter or olive oil, mound onto plates, ladle the spiced kima generously over the top, and shower with sharp grated Kefalotyri.