#cuban style macarrones

[nochearecipebook]

Cuban Style "Macarrones"

When we arrived home today from vacationing in Fort Myers Beach here in Florida for a few days, I was tired and hungry. At first, I said that I was not going to cook. But when I thought of some of the ingredients that I had in my freezer and in my pantry, I decided to put together this comfort food type of dish, and I'm glad I did!

A type of Bolognese pasta dish, in Cuba the combination of some type of thick pasta with meat sauce are simply known as "macarrones."

The pasta could be either penne, ziti, or elbow, but not spaghetti in order to be considered macarrones.

In a steel pot, brown one pound of ground sirloin in olive oil and add some salt, ground black pepper, dried leaf oregano, rosemary, paprika, or some type of red powdered Spanish seasoning called Sazón while stirring at medium-high heat. Add one cup of diced yellow onion, some minced garlic, one cup of tomato paste, one cup of tomato sauce, half cup of Spanish golden cooking wine, and two bay leaves while continuing to stir, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

In a separate pot, bring some water to a rolling boil and cook a box of one of the pastas mentioned above, drain well and add the pasta to the meat sauce, add one cup of grated parmesan cheese and stir well to mix the pasta with the meat sauce, cover and simmer for an additional 15 minutes. You can drizzle a bit of olive oil on the pasta and stir to obtain the perfect consistency before serving.

Garlic bread or pieces of a baguette to be dipped in salted olive oil are great sides for this recipe along with a red cabernet, enjoy!