“Makaronia me Kima” (Greek spaghetti with meat sauce) is one of my favorite comfort foods. This incredibly popular recipe is the Greek version of spaghetti Bolognese, a rich ground beef and tomato sauce served over pasta.
Prep Time10 minutesmins
Cook Time1 hourhr
Total Time1 hourhr10 minutesmins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Greek
Keyword: Makaronia me kima, Spaghetti with meat sauce
14oz(400g) canned plum tomatoes (I used San Marzano)
1tspsalt
¼tspground pepper
½tspsugar, more if needed
2bay leaves
½cinnamon stick
3allspice berries
pinchground cloves
½cup(120ml) white wine
2cups(480ml) vegetable or chicken stockfrom a cube is fine
2tbspolive oil
To serve
cooked spaghetti or any type of pasta
Grated parmesan
flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper
Instructions
Heat the butter in a Dutch Oven over medium heat until it starts foaming. Once the butter starts turning brown, add the garlic and onions, cut side down.
Add the canned tomatoes (be careful as they are likely to spatter and sizzle when they hit the hot pan).
Break them up with the back of a spoon and stir in the salt, sugar, pepper, bay leaves, cinnamon stick, allspice berries and ground cloves.
Pour the wine into the sauce and bring to a rolling boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pot tightly and cook for 20-25 minutes.
Discard the bay leaves, cinnamon stick and allspice berries. Blitz the sauce with an immersion blender.
Stir in the ground beef and break it up with your spoon. Add the olive oil and stock, bring the sauce back to a simmer, partially cover the pot and cook for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning. Serve over spaghetti with grated Parmesan or Kefalotyri cheese.
Video
Notes
This ground beef sauce recipe is suitable for freezing. I usually make a big batch, divide it into portion sizes and freeze it so that we always have a kid-friendly meal on stand by.
If you don't want to blend the sauce then you can use finely grated onion and crushed tomatoes.
If the sauce is a little watery you can continue to cook it for a bit longer until it has reduced.