In the process of globalization, all countries begin to exchange culture. This also includes fashion and food. Pizza and pasta popular in modern times came from Italy to Russia. The second dish may well pass for everyday dinner, because it is fast, tasty and inexpensive. There are different options for the delicacy, but this recipe will consider pasta with tomatoes and minced meat, as well as tips on how to diversify it.
What is pasta?
Many Russians believe that pasta is ordinary pasta with various additives and necessarily cheese, but there are significant differences between these concepts.
Russian "pasta" is a collective word. This includes Chinese noodles, and soba - a Japanese dough product, and simple vermicelli. Speaking of "pasta", it is worth noting that the name refers to a specific dish, and special products are used for it.
Thus, the word “pasta” that is familiar to us is a generalized concept, and “pasta” is more specific. In Italy, the dish is very popular, has more than 300 fillings and is found at every step. Features of the choice of products for pasta with minced meat and tomatoes will be described below.
How to choose products
The main components of the delicacy are special pasta (spaghetti), meat (raw or semi-finished), vegetables (tomatoes, etc.), herbs and, of course, cheese. Vegetarian options are often found without a second ingredient.
It is ideal if the basis for the recipe for pasta with minced meat and tomatoes will be exactly spaghetti, but in their absence any other pasta made from durum wheat will do. These retain their shape and taste, and the integrity of the products is just important in the paste.
A prerequisite for meat is diet. Fat is allowed at least or should not be at all. When choosing semi-finished products, pay attention to the salinity of the product: the less the better.
Vegetables (in particular, tomatoes) must be strong so that they do not turn into shapeless porridge during heat treatment. The same applies to greenery - a fresh ingredient will give a strong aroma and pleasant taste.
It is better not to use soft cheese and prefer hard cheese. Their texture and smell and taste vary, so you should not experiment.
Ingredients
To make pasta with tomatoes and minced meat we need:
- spaghetti;
- ground beef;
- Parmesan cheese
- a bunch of parsley;
- Cherry tomatoes;
- olive oil;
- salt, red pepper.
All products are not strictly required. So, spaghetti can be replaced with ordinary pasta, ground beef with chicken, parmesan with any other hard cheese, and small cherry tomatoes with regular size. If desired, more spices are allowed to be added to the pasta, such as Provence herbs. Also by the way will have garlic.
Cooking
Before starting work on a paste with tomatoes and minced meat, all the ingredients should be brought into a ready-to-use state: thaw the meat, wash and peel the vegetables.
- First boil the spaghetti until medium cooked. In Italian cuisine, a slight "undercooking" is allowed so that the pasta remains slightly hard, but if you do not like it, this nuance can be omitted. Drain and cool slightly while preparing the filling.
- Cherry tomatoes cut in half into large slices. Grate the cheese. Chop the onion smaller, chop the greens.
- Take a suitable size pan and heat. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil and put the minced meat in a container. It must be fried until medium cooked so that it does not form a fry, and at the same time the redness disappears. Add onion to the meat. Cook for about 5 minutes until the onions become clear. Salt, pepper, sprinkle with spices, if desired, then mix well.
- Add tomatoes to the minced meat. Put out a little so that they do not have time to completely soften, but let the juice go.
- Send the pasta to the filling, mix well. Then sprinkle with plenty of cheese, add half a glass of warm or hot water, mix and close the lid for a couple of minutes. When the cheese is melted and the pasta starts to “stretch” a little, sprinkle the dish with herbs and leave to go under the lid.
Pasta with minced meat, tomatoes and cheese is ready! Serve the hot treat until the cheese has cooled and hardened. All homemade will appreciate the dish, and you will love it for its simplicity. Enjoy your meal!
With eggplant and cream sauce
Additional ingredients will always come in handy, especially if it is eggplant. Many do not like vegetables, but only because they don’t know how to cook it properly. Garlic and parsley go well with this ingredient, so all this should be added to the main recipe together. Below will be considered a recipe for pasta with minced meat, eggplant and tomatoes in a creamy sauce. You can not spare cheese, but it is better to buy two or even three types. Any milk will do.
Wash eggplant, trim the tails. Grind into medium sized pieces. The peel can be removed if desired, but this is not necessary.
As in the main recipe, cook the pasta, fry the meat with onions, spices and then season with tomatoes. At the same stage, eggplant should be poured. It is important to ensure that the vegetables remain intact, but not raw at the same time.
Now the course of action is changing a bit. The contents of the pan should be poured with non-fat milk so that it rises 0.5-1 cm above the level of the entire filling. After a couple of minutes, pour 2/3 of the cheese into the pan, mix.
When the filling becomes a homogeneous consistency, add the pasta, mix. Now only the greens and garlic remained, which should be sent to the dish a couple of minutes before readiness. Stir and leave to reach for a while.
Fragrant and spicy dish ready. Serve sprinkling all the plates with the remaining cheese. This option will be a bit more satisfying than the main due to eggplant.
Cooking Tips
Your gourmet dinner will be even better if you follow the tips below.
- You can use any kind of greens, but pay special attention to basil. In combination with good cheese and meat, it will become a real decoration of the dish both externally and to taste.
- A thin sauce with small pieces of filling will be good with long pasta, while with short ones, more tangible slices.
- If you decide to add garlic, in no case do not crush it. So he will lose part of the smell and taste. It is not recommended to fry the vegetable, it is better to put in an almost ready-made filling.