Persian Pasta Sauce Recipes

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of generously salted water to a boil over high heat. Set a colander in the sink. Cook the pasta, stirring occasionally with tongs to prevent clumping. Taste, and adjust salt as needed. When the pasta is al dente, drain into colander.
• Return pasta to pot, and add 2 tablespoons oil, tomato sauce, 1 cup Parmesan and chile paste or flakes, if using. Stir well with tongs to combine. and taste to ensure that the mixture is well seasoned.
• Preheat a 10-inch nonstick pan over medium heat. Add 3 tablespoons oil. When it shimmers, pile in the pasta, and use a silicone spatula to lightly pat it evenly down into the pan. The pan may seem perilously full, but the cake will condense as it cooks. Use spatula to gently coax the pasta on the edges into a cakelike shape, and reduce heat to medium low. Add oil as needed until you can see it gently bubbling up the sides of the pan - this will ensure that the edges of the tahdig are brown.
• Cook, rotating pan a quarter-turn every 5 minutes to ensure even browning. Periodically run spatula around the edges to prevent sticking. After 20 minutes, carefully tip excess oil into a heatproof bowl, then cover the pan with a pizza pan or large, flat pot lid. Carefully flip tahdig onto pan.
• Add oil back into pan, and return to medium heat. If needed, add more oil to coat bottom of the pan. Carefully slide tahdig back into pan, using spatula to coax it back into shape. When oil begins to gently bubble up the sides of the pan, reduce heat to medium low, and cook for 20 minutes, rotating pan a quarter-turn every 5 minutes.
• Wipe pizza pan clean, tip out excess oil and flip tahdig onto pan as before. If either side (or both) can use a little more crisping, return tahdig to pan without oil, increase heat to medium high and cook for 60-90 seconds, until sizzling and properly browned.
• Dab away any excess grease with a paper towel. Allow tahdig to cool for 10 minutes before using a sharp bread knife to cut into slices. Serve warm or at room temperature with grated Parmesan.

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil and saute onion until translucent.
• Add garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes.
• Add turmeric, stir and continue cooking for another minute before adding beef.
• Brown beef and break into small pieces.
• Scoop out excess fat.
• Salt and pepper to taste.
• Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 20-30 minutes. ( I simmered mine for about an hour.).

Steps:

• In a large frying pan, heat 1 tbsp of oil on medium heat, and add in onions. Sauté for 3-4 minutes, until they turn translucent and start to color a bit.
• Add in garlic and curry powder, and sauté for 1 minute, until fragrant.
• Add in beef, and season with 1 tsp salt and freshly cracked pepper. Use your spoon to break it up into smaller pieces. Sauté for 3-4 minutes until all the beef is browned.
• Add in tomato paste, and stir through for 1-2 minutes, until it starts to darken.
• Add in tomato sauce, 1 cup of water, 1/2 tsp salt, and some more cracked pepper. Increase the heat to medium-high, and bring to a boil.
• Once boiling, reduce to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• While the sauce is cooking, bring 5-6 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Once boiling, add in 1 tbsp of salt and the noodles. Cook according to package directions, until the pasta is "al dente"." Drain in a colander and set aside.
• Peel the potatoes, and slice them crosswise into 1/2 cm rounds.
• In the same pot you cooked the pasta in, wipe it down until completely dry, and add in 1 tbsp of oil. Arrange potato slices so that they cover the entire bottom of the pot.
• Add pasta back to the pot, then the meat sauce on top. Stir to combine, and make sure every pasta strand is coated in sauce.
• Place a paper towel on the pot, and cover with lid. Let cook on medium heat for 7-8 minutes, then reduce to low, and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
• Once done cooking, remove paper towel and lid, stir to combine, and serve with salad!