RECIPE

© Melanie Acevedo

Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Lamb, Tomato, and Cumin Sauce

• Recipe by Quick From Scratch Pasta

A Middle Eastern version of the spaghetti with meat sauce we all know and love, this pasta should find a ready audience. It's good with macaroni or with plain spaghetti.

• Fast

Ingredients

1. 2 tablespoons cooking oil
2. 1 onion, chopped
3. 2 cloves garlic, chopped
4. 1 pound ground lamb
5. 1 tablespoon ground cumin
6. 1 1/2 cups canned crushed tomatoes in thick puree (one 16-ounce can)
7. 1 3/4 teaspoons salt
8. 3/4 pound whole-wheat spaghetti
9. 1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
10. 1/3 cup chopped fresh mint or parsley

Directions

1. In a large frying pan, heat the oil over moderately low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and then the lamb. Cook until the meat is no longer pink, about 3 minutes. Stir in the cumin, tomatoes, and salt. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
2. In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the spaghetti until just done, about 15 minutes. Drain the pasta and toss it with the sauce, pepper, and mint.

Notes

Variation

Whole-Wheat Spaghetti with Meat Sauce You can substitute 1 pound of ground beef for the ground lamb. Use the same procedure, but decrease the cumin to 11/2 teaspoons and use parsley rather than mint.