Turkish-Style Pasta with Garlic Yoghurt & Beef

📝 Ingredients

• 320 g small macaroni (coquillettes)
• 400 g minced beef, 15% fat
• 1 brown onion (about 150 g)
• 3 garlic cloves (2 for the yoghurt, 1 for the beef)
• 2 tbsp tomato purée + 100 ml water
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 500 g whole-milk plain yoghurt (4 pots of 125 g each)
• 20 g unsalted butter
• 2 tsp sweet paprika + 2 tsp dried mint
• Salt, black pepper

🍴 Utensils

• Large saucepan
• Colander
• Frying pan
• Small saucepan
• Bowl and whisk
• Fine grater

📖 Steps

1. Take the yoghurts out of the fridge right at the start. Tip them into a bowl, add 2 finely grated garlic cloves and a pinch of salt, then whisk until smooth. Leave at room temperature: cold yoghurt would cool the pasta down.
2. Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil for the pasta. Meanwhile, peel and finely chop the onion and the last garlic clove.
3. Heat the frying pan over a medium-high heat without any fat: the beef releases its own. Crumble in the meat and cook for 5 min, pressing it down with the spatula, until there's no pink left and it starts to brown. Add the onion and cook for 4 min.
4. Add the chopped garlic, cumin and tomato purée, stir for 30 s, then pour in the water. Season with salt and pepper and simmer for 5 to 6 min over a low heat, until the sauce has thickened and coats the meat without being runny.
5. Cook the macaroni in the boiling water according to the packet instructions (about 9 min), stirring from time to time. Taste: it should be tender but still have a little bite. Drain.
6. Just before serving, melt the butter over a low heat in the small saucepan until it foams. Off the heat, add the paprika and the mint, crumbled between your fingers, then stir: the butter turns red. Don't put it back on the heat, as paprika burns very quickly.
7. Divide the hot pasta between shallow bowls and top generously with the garlic yoghurt. Spoon the beef into the centre, then drizzle everything with the paprika and mint butter. Serve immediately.