START TO FINISH: 45 minutes
SERVINGS: 4
This savory pasta dish was inspired by kawarma, the spicy ground beef topping spooned over hummus in Israel. We decided it would work equally well over noodles with just a few adjustments. The result is a ground beef sauce seasoned with fragrant spices and generous amounts of onion and garlic, all lightened with a good dose of mint. Rather than sprinkle the feta as a garnish, we toss the just-cooked noodles with most of the cheese so it melts and coats the strands. If you like, you could serve the sauce with warmed flatbread instead of noodles.
Don’t use ground beef fattier than 90 percent lean or the sauce will be greasy.
1½ pounds 90 percent lean ground beef
2 tablespoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons sweet paprika
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Kosher salt and ground black pepper
2 large yellow onions, finely chopped
8 medium garlic cloves, minced
28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
12 ounces linguini
8 ounces feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup chopped fresh mint
In a medium bowl, combine the beef, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper and ¼ cup water. Mix with your hands.
Add the beef mixture, onions and garlic to a 12-inch skillet. Set over medium-high and cook, stirring and breaking up the meat, until the onion has softened and the beef is no longer pink, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes with juices and bring to a simmer, then reduce to medium and cook, stirring, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce has thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, in a large pot, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Stir in the pasta and 2 tablespoons salt; cook until the pasta is al dente. Reserve about 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta. Return the pasta to the pot. Add about ¾ of the feta and toss. Taste and season with salt and pepper, then transfer to a platter.
Stir the mint into the sauce, then taste and season with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the pasta and sprinkle with the remaining feta.