My Favorite Comfort Food Recipe: Persian Spaghetti (AKA “Macaroni”)
My favorite comfort food of all time is Macaroni. Nope, not macaroni and cheese. It’s actually more of a bolognese or spaghetti with meat sauce. But, in Iran, we call all types of pasta, Macaroni. At least that’s what my grandma taught me. Whether was she was using spaghetti, angel hair, fusilli, penne, farfalle or any other pasta…it was called Macaroni. I like to think it’s pretty inclusive ;) not labeling our beloved carb, pasta, by it’s shape or size…rather, calling it all Macaroni.
Macaroni, also known as Persian Spaghetti, is a dish where Iranian and Italian cuisines come together. While I’m sure Italians would be absolutely horrified at our overcooked pasta, they’ll quickly get down with our Tahdig (literal translation: “bottom of the pot”) that is a culinary revolution for the senses.
Like all Persian kids, I grew up knowing that the best part of dinner was tahdig, the crisp, golden crust that forms at the bottom of every pot of buttery, pillowy Persian rice. My grandma, and probably every other Iranian Grandma, would turn almost anything into tahdig. My favorite (besides the lavash bread tahdig she would make) was her potato tahdig that would accompany her macaroni. After coating pasta with tomato-rich meat sauce, my grandma would drizzle the bottom of a nonstick pot with oil and line it with thinly cut oval potato slices.
See, another thing Persians do is we prepare pasta as we do rice—we don’t just boil the pasta, but also steam it after it’s been cooked in simmering hot water. We also don’t serve macaroni in anything other than a meat sauce, much like Bolognese. There’s one kind of macaroni for Persians and it involves an incredibly delicious layer of crispy potatoes (AKA Potato Tahdig) to accompany that meaty, comforting helping of Persian Spaghetti.
While I’ve learned to make my mother and grandmother’s recipe for Persian Macaroni, my mom still makes it for me every single time I fly back to visit her in California. IYKYK that Persian kids are also known for adding ketchup and maybe even a slice of American cheese to it the next day when we scarf down the leftovers (though we don’t share this part with our Iranian elders, they wouldn’t approve of the debauchery, but OMG is it amazing).
Today, I’m sharing my Persian Spaghetti (Macaroni) recipe with you because it’s just THAT good.
Ingredients (for serving 4 people):
400 Grams spaghetti noodles
1 Pound ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
8 white button mushrooms, sliced (Some may skip mushrooms, but I love them. Some also add chopped bell peppers here, but I’m not into that)
4 Tablespoons tomato paste (some will use a tomato basil sauce during this step, I tend to like the thickness that comes with paste and will sometimes add a tablespoon or two of a fresh tomato basil pasta sauce to thin it out and add a little extra flavor)
2 medium potatoes, peeled and sliced
1 Teaspoon turmeric
½ Teaspoon black pepper
5 cloves garlic
3 tbsp brewed saffron (optional, I know not everyone has saffron lying around)
½ Teaspoon oregano
1 Teaspoon salt (for spaghetti)
1 Teaspoon salt (for meat sauce)
Water
Vegetable oil (I like using grape seed oil, but some will use olive oil)
Instructions:
In a large frying pan, heat 2 tablespoon oil over medium heat. Add chopped onion to the pan and sauté until soft.
Add minced garlic and cook for a couple of minutes longer.
Add ground beef and stir until well mixed, making sure it’s being browned.
Add turmeric, salt, oregano and black pepper to the mixture and stir until well mixed.
Add sliced mushrooms to the mixture. Sauté for about five minutes until soft.
Add tomato paste and stir for 1-2 minutes. When you notice the color of the paste changing (to a red-orange color), it is done.
Add 1/3 cup of water, lower the heat and let cook until water is evaporated.
While the rest of the good stuff simmers, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt to it. Cook spaghetti 2-3 minutes (we’re really going for al denté here because you’re going to steam the pasta later) less than the time suggested on its package instructions, strain and set aside.
To a non-stick pot (big enough to hold the pasta and sauce) add brewed saffron, oil, and 3 to 4 tablespoons of water over medium heat.
Add 1 layer of sliced potatoes to cover the bottom of the pan, coating the potatoes in the mixture.
Add a bit of pasta over the potatoes and then a layer of the meat sauce. Keep layering until you've used all of the pasta and sauce.
Decrease heat to low, cover the lid and cook for 45 minutes. After 45 minutes, stir the spaghetti and serve. You can check with a spatula or spoon to make sure they potatoes have some crisp to them. You’ll then be able to get to the bottom of the pot (Tahdig literally mean bottom of the pot) to serve yourself and your guests a crispy potato alongside your Iranian Spaghetti.
