“My dear mother-in-law, who is no longer with us, made a couple of specialty dishes. The hot chili sauce (a recipe we shared last month) is one of those specialty dishes and so is this recipe for macaronia.
Whenever she cooked macaronia, we would always stay for dinner. Everyone loved it.”
Chrystalla
Macaronia Me Kima – Meat Sauce Recipe
Macaronia is the Greek word for pasta. Kima is the Greek word for a sauce that is similar to bolognese.
The recipe that we are sharing today is for Kima, the sauce. We use penne pasta however you can use this sauce recipe with any type of pasta that you prefer.
INGREDIENTS
- 140g or 1 large onion, peeled and halved
- 140g or 2 carrots, cut into 5cm pieces
- 40g olive oil
- 10g or 1 tbs salt
- 1/2 tbs ground black pepper
- 400g or 1 can of crushed or diced tomatoes
- 100g tomato paste
- 1-2 tbl Fayi Hot Chilli Sauce – depending on taste preference for hot spice
- 150g water
- 1000g or 1kg beef mince
- 50g honey
- 30g or 2tbs sugar (optional)
- 100g diced mushrooms (optional)
STEPS
- Chop onion (1) for 3 seconds/speed 7.
- Without scraping the sides, add carrots (2) and chop 3 seconds/speed 5.
- Scrape down the sides. Add olive oil (40g) and cook for 3 minutes/100 degrees/ reverse/lowest speed.
- Add to bowl: salt (1 tbs), pepper (1/2 tbs), canned tomatoes (400g), tomato paste (100g), chili sauce (1-2 tbs) and water (150g).
- Put the lid on the bowl. Place the large steaming dish on top of the lid. Then put the mince (1000g) into the large steaming dish. Use the spatula to break up the mince. Leave a hole in the center of the steaming dish for steam to pass through. Place the lid on top of the large steaming dish.
- Cook 20 minutes/100 degrees/ reverse/speed 1.
- Tip the cooked mince into the bowl. Then add honey (50g), sugar (30g) and mushrooms (100g), if using.
- Boil for another 10 minutes/100 degrees/reverse/lowest speed.
- Try the sauce and adjust seasoning to taste. Serve the sauce over cooked pasta and garnish with parsley, grated parmesan cheese or grated halloumi cheese.
NOTES
- Use the small simmering basket when making a half batch with 500g of mince.
- To mince meat: cut beef into 1-2cm cubes while it is slightly frozen. Only mince 200g (maximum) at a time. Use the turbo function on 2 seconds and repeat until desired texture is achieved.
- The mince will shrink a little as it cooks. Therefore it is best to use meat that is a bit chunkier in size than normal. For this reason, it is best to mince meat while it is slightly frozen.
How To Mince Meat In Your Thermo Mixer
Whenever you make a meat sauce in your thermo mixer it is best to mince your own meat. There are many benefits to mincing your own meat:
- You can select and use better cuts of meat which can be healthier for you.
- Buy meat in bulk or when it is on special, to save money and keep it in the freezer. Mincing meat is best when it is still slightly frozen. There is no need to worry about “defrosting” something for dinner.
- Often store bought mince will retain a lot more water because of the production process. This can make your meat sauce very runny if you are cooking the sauce in the bowl of your thermo mixer. Many people (especially those who are new to the thermo mixing world) will come across this problem. Bolognese sauce made from store bought mince will always turn out very runny or even mushy.
TIP: If you want to cook a chunky meat sauce with store bought mince, cook the meat in the steaming basket or in the large steaming dish.
How To Cook Pasta In Your Thermal Server
While the meat sauce is cooking in your thermo mixer, you will also need to cook the pasta. If you are lucky enough to have two thermal cookers then use your other machine to boil the pasta. Or use the stove and cook the pasta in a pot the “traditional way” or try using your thermal server to cook the pasta!
Here is what you do:
- If using a 2.3L dish, you can cook up to 250g of pasta at a time.
- First, heat up the thermal server with some boiling water.
- Tip out the boiling water before adding pasta to the thermal server.
- Then, cover the pasta with 2L of boiling water – to the top.
- Add a little bit of salt and carefully stir the pasta with a fork or a spoon.
- Attach the lid on top so that the pasta can start cooking.
- Set your timer at the cooking time suggested on the back of the pasta packet.
- Stir the pasta with a fork or a spoon at the half way time.
- Check the pasta is cooked.
- Drain the water, using the steaming dish or the steaming tray.
- Put the pasta back into the thermal server to keep warm until you are ready to serve.
