Diana started with her Aunt Thekla’s recipe and changed it a bit according to taste. She writes, “As with any recipe you can alter how much more or less of any ingredient to add or subtract by taste.” While onion and cloves are part of many Greek sauce recipes, I was delighted to try the technique of studding the onion with whole cloves. No cloves to retrieve from the sauce, and the onions come out at the end, having imparted their flavor to the dish.
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 pounds of ground beef
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 medium onion
- 10 whole cloves
- 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1 can (15-16 oz) tomato sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
Preparation:
Brown ground beef in olive oil making sure to break it down into very small bits.
While meat is browning cut onion in half and peel both sides. Pierce flat bottoms of onion with 5 cloves each.
Add crushed garlic to the meat near the end of browning.
Once meat has finished cooking all the way through, stir in tomato sauce. Add cinnamon. Stir well.
Place onion halves bottom down (clove side down) in meat, cover and let simmer on low for 20 minutes (while pasta cooks). Carefully remove onion halves.
Serve with pasta and top with grated cheese. Add a great seasonal salad and some crusty bread for a delicious meal.
Yield: serves 4-6
