Kiymali Makarna (Turkish Pasta with Minced Meat)
The ultimate Turkish weeknight dinner: pasta tossed with a rich minced meat and tomato paste sauce, finished with butter, grated cheese and a spoon of yoghurt.
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Ingredients
500g penne pasta
400g minced beef
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp red pepper flakes (pul biber)
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
Salt, to taste
100g kashkaval cheese, grated, to serve
Thick strained yoghurt, to serve (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Bring a large pan of well-salted water to the boil and cook the pasta until just al dente. Reserve a mugful of the cooking water before draining.
- 2
Meanwhile heat the sunflower oil in a wide pan, add the minced beef and cook over high heat, breaking it up, until browned and any liquid has evaporated.
- 3
Add the chopped onion and cook for 4-5 minutes until soft, then stir in the garlic for a final minute.
- 4
Stir in the tomato paste, pepper flakes, black pepper and salt. Fry the paste for 2 minutes, then add about 150ml of the reserved pasta water and simmer for 5 minutes to a loose, glossy sauce.
- 5
Tip the drained pasta into the sauce with the butter and toss well over low heat, adding more pasta water if it looks dry.
- 6
Serve piping hot, showered with grated kashkaval and a generous spoonful of cold strained yoghurt on the side.
Kiymali makarna is Turkey's answer to a quick bolognese — but faster, punchier and unapologetically buttery. Minced beef is browned with onion and garlic, enriched with dark red tomato paste and warmed through with pul biber, then tossed with pasta so every piece is coated in the glossy sauce. It is the dish Turkish students, parents and busy workers all fall back on, and for good reason.
Two details make it properly Turkish rather than vaguely Italian: a spoonful of good tomato paste instead of tinned tomatoes, and a knob of butter stirred in at the end. Many families also serve it with a dollop of thick strained yoghurt on the side — the cool tang against the rich meat sauce is a genuinely brilliant combination worth trying at least once.
You can find Turkish-made pasta, Oncu tomato paste, pepper flakes and kashkaval cheese in the Turkish Online Market range, delivered anywhere in the UK, so this fifteen-ingredient-pantry dinner is never more than a cupboard away.
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