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Coffee and Crumpets

Real Food with Altitude

Beef Pasta, Rice and Grains

"That Pasta Thing"

My husband is really funny. When I ask him what he would like for dinner on any given day, his answer is always the same; out of the million things I can make he always comes up with, “How about Chicken Corn Soup?” or “I like that pasta thing you make with meat, and peas and sauce.” I don’t know why he only remembers those two things or maybe he just loves them that much? The unfortunate thing is, I never have the stuff for Chicken Corn Soup half the time, and only some components of “that pasta thing”, so needless to say, he hardly ever gets his choice! However, yesterday was his lucky day. I had made sure to buy all the required stuff for “that pasta thing.” This dish has no name. It’s something I made up a few years back from a memory of a dish I had eaten at some luncheon. 

It was the summer my oldest sister got married in Pakistan. My grandparents were there for the wedding also, and one of my grandfather’s relatives had invited them for lunch. He made us go with them. I loved my grandfather. He was an amazing man and the one man I admire the most in my life. Just a couple of words in my pasta post does not do him justice, so I will stop now and dedicate an entire post to him in the future. Anyway, back to my dish, so these relatives of my grandfather’s, they invited us for lunch. First, I must say, that pasta is not the norm in Pakistan. Not many people eat it, many, plain don’t like it and even fewer know how to cook it. So it was a bit of a surprise to see a pasta dish as our main course. However, since my siblings and I were visiting from London, we were excited to see pasta after months of eating rice and heavily sauced and spiced dishes. I don’t know what it is about this pasta dish that I remember it even after almost 29 years! Maybe our Pakistani host was secretly trained in Italy as a pasta chef and so was able to create this unforgettable work of culinary delight, or more realistically, as a thirteen year old who hadn’t had pasta in a while, it was just the excitement of it all! All I can say is that it was good and now having a recreated something similar in my kitchen, my husband Trace, thinks so too.


So, what’s in this pasta masterpiece? It’s not complicated at all actually, there’s pasta layered with a spicy, Indian flavoured, boneless beef/stew meat, some peas, and topped with a white sauce and baked. That’s it. I remember mainly the flavours of the original dish and not all of what was in it. I think it had more stuff than I put in my mine, but I like mine so I don’t mess with it. I think the spiciness of the meat soaking into the pasta and then the creaminess from the white sauce is what makes this dish work. Yesterday, I made the dish with brown rice pasta and the white sauce was made using corn starch. I am on a gluten free diet for awhile for my joints and since I didn’t want to make two dinners, I just adjusted this one. You can probably add any vegetable you want but the original had peas and I love peas so that’s what I use. I also added mushrooms last night and that worked really well.


Trace was a happy camper and even more so when he found 3 half gallons of ice cream in the freezer!
Hope y’all try this dish that has been 29 years in the making! Let me know what you think.

“That Pasta Thing“

Meat:
1lb boneless stew beef
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoon garlic, minced
2 teaspoon ginger, minced
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 teaspoon cayenne/red chilli pepper
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
2 cups of water 
salt and pepper

White sauce:
3 cups milk
4 tablespoons all purpose flour
4 tablespoons butter
salt and pepper
pinch of fresh nutmeg

1lb short tube pasta ( I like rigatoni, but penne, ziti even rotini will work)
6/8oz of frozen peas (half a bag or more if you love peas, omit if you don’t)
1 cup Mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/4 cup Parmesan cheesed, grated

Preheat oven to 400 deg F
Grease/spray a 9 by 13 pan oven proof pan.

Meat:
There are many ways of making the meat sauce and the easiest I think is using a pressure cooker. You can use a slow cooker or do it on the stove top but to get the meat really fork tender, it will take a while.
I live at high altitude, so for me, the pressure cooker is the only way if I want dinner that day!
Alternatively, if you have leftover roast, just brown the onions, add the meat and spices and a touch of water to make a saucy meat mixture.

In a pressure cooker, add the oil and onions.
Brown the onions till nice and golden brown.
Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a minute.
Add the boneless meat chunks and brown a little, about 5 minutes.
Add the turmeric and chilli powder, stir.
Add water to cover and bring to boil.
Put the lid on the pressure cooker and bring to pressure.
After the cooker starts blowing a steady steam, reduce the heat to low
and set the timer for 25 minutes.
(Follow your pressure cooker directions for more accurate results)
When the timer goes off, remove the cooker from the heat and let it cool down 
before safely releasing pressure and opening the cooker.
The meat should be fork tender now and can be easily shredded.
Shred the meat and add back to the pan. There will be some water left
in the pan, add the meat back in, bring the pan back onto medium heat 
and cook till the shredded meat absorbs most of the water.
Don’t make it too dry, you need it a little saucy.
Add the frozen peas and season with salt and pepper.
Put aside.

While the meat is in the pressure cooker, cook the pasta and make the white sauce.

White sauce:
Melt butter in a medium pan.
Add the flour and cook a little to get the raw flour taste out.
Add the milk and whisk to make sure there are no lumps.
Keep stirring until the mixture becomes nice and thick and bubbly.
Add salt and pepper to taste and grate some fresh nutmeg.
Put aside.

Bring a large pan of water to boil and cook pasta
according to package directions.
Don’t overcook, keep al dente or a little firm, since it will
be cooked again in the oven.
Once all the components are assembled, it’s time to layer.
Put the cooked pasta into the greased dish and evenly layer the meat 
over it. Pour the white sauce over the meat and pasta, covering the entire dish.
Sprinkle with the Mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese.
Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until the top is nice and golden brown 
and the sauce is bubbling around the sides.

Spoon onto plates and serve with a nice salad and some crusty bread.

I really hope you enjoy it as much as Trace does and if you change something, let me know how it worked.







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Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    February 25, 2011 at 4:14 am

  2. maryamcat. says

    February 23, 2011 at 7:01 am

  3. Nazneen says

    February 22, 2011 at 10:56 pm

  4. Ammara says

    February 22, 2011 at 1:15 pm

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