A simple Turkish pasta dish made with seasoned minced beef is served over pasta and garlic yogurt. Drizzled with a seasoned butter sauce and garnished with chopped tomatoes and parsley. So easy and delicious.
1teaspoonTurkish chili flakesor regular chili flakes
For the yogurt sauce:
1cupGreek yogurtor plain yogurt
2-3smallgarlic clovesminced, you can use one for a lighter garlic flavor
Salt and pepper
To Garnish:
1/4cupminced parsley
1/2cupCherry tomatoesdiced
Instructions
Cook the 8 ounces pasta of choice according to package directions.
In a large skillet over medium heat, sear the 1 pound lean ground beef until almost cooked through. about 2-3 minutes. The beef should release its natural oils, and no need to add oil.
Add in the diced 2 medium yellow onions, Salt and Pepper to taste, 2 teaspoons sweet paprika powder, 2 tablespoons onion powder, and 1 tablespoon tomato paste.
Mix and sear everything until the onions are translucent and cooked through. About 3 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
To make the butter sauce, melt the 1/4 cup unsalted butter over low heat in a small saucepan. Add the 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon mild pepper paste, 1 teaspoon dried mint, 1 tablespoon sweet paprika, and 1 teaspoon Turkish chili flakes. Mix with a spatula to combine. About 1 minute. Set aside.
Next, Make the garlic yogurt sauce. In a bowl add the 1 cup Greek yogurt, 2-3 small garlic cloves (minced), Salt and pepper, and a bit of water (about 2-3 tablespoons) to thin it down if it is too thick. Mix well to combine.
To assemble, place cooked pasta on a deep dish or plate. Then add 1/4 th of the yogurt sauce, top with seasoned beef, drizzle some of the seasoned butter sauce, and garnish with chopped 1/4 cup minced parsley and 1/2 cup Cherry tomatoes (chopped). Enjoy.
Video
Notes
Garlic: Please note that some of you feel like to 2-3 small cloves of garlic is a bit intense. If you do not like the intense garlic flavor, please use only one garlic clove.
You can use any pasta of your choice. Consider using high-protein pasta to cut down on the carbs.
NOTE: Originally, Turkish pasta is made with some ground cumin to season the ground beef. I personally don't like cumin much, so I left it out. You may add one teaspoon of cumin along with the paprika and onion powder to season the beef.
The recipe for Turkish pasta is made with ground beef. You could try ground turkey if you prefer.
Turkish Mild pepper paste can be easily found in Michigan at many Middle Eastern grocery stores. If you can't find it, you can use any pepper paste. It will be almost the same flavor. You can also skip it for the butter sauce and add one tablespoon of tomato paste instead.
I used Greek yogurt to make the yogurt sauce. To thin it down a bit, you can add about 2-4 tablespoons of water. If you are using plain yogurt, you will most likely not need to add water to thin it down.