Persian Macaroni Recipe

Persian Macaroni (Persian Spaghetti, ماکارونی) is an extra delicious Persian dish. It has the most straightforward recipe in Persian cuisine. Many beginners start their cooking in Persian cuisine by cooking Macaroni. It is almost like the Italian kinds of pasta or spaghetti, but Iranians make it a little unusual. The dish becomes a masterpiece when you add sliced potato crust (Tahdig e Sibzamini) to it.

The term Macaroni comes from the Italian word Maccheroniand Meccheroni is a dry pasta shape made with durum and wheat. They usually cut spaghetti shape of it to shorter lengths. It has so many different variations in form and type like pasta. It is so prevalent in Iran that there are plenty of Macaroni factories. This food is cooked in many places such as Italy, Iran, Greece, and many other sites. It is as tasty as pasta, and it is straightforward to cook.

Different types of Persian Macaroni:

Macaroni is the main ingredient of this Persian spaghetti recipe. There are different kinds of Macaronis according to the shape and type of wheat they are made with. There would also be tomato macaroni which includes tomato as a component inside it. Moreover, to make this Persian spaghetti, you need to make a sauce. There is a place where the variations increase. You can adjust the sauce and set its ingredients entirely to your taste. However, there is the main sauce made with ground beef, bell peppers, and mushroom.

You can add chicken, fish, lamb, or even tuna fish instead of beef. Also, you can use sausages and potatoes. You can use garlic instead of peppers. There is another option of adding soybeans or other grains instead of meat. It is even possible to serve it without sauce! Therefore, there are plenty of Macaronis based on the shape and the sauce.

Important Nutrition Facts:

In Iran, it is considered as a high-calorie dish. Because most of the time it contains an extra amount of vegetable oil. Macaroni has 168 kcal per 100gr. You need to add the potato crust’s calorie and nutrition if you are cooking one along with this food. It has a notable amount of 30gr carbohydrates because it is made out of wheat. Furthermore, you should consider the ingredients used in making the sauce to calculate the real nutrition numbers. A typical dish of Macaroni contains 7.6 gr of protein per 100gr.

And includes many vitamins such as vitamin E and all kinds of vitamin B. the most important vitamin is vitamin C with 1.9 mg per 100gr. It has 280 mg of sodium and 160 mg potassium per 100gr. It also includes many other essential minerals.

Vegetarian tips:

Macaroni itself is made with wheat and is entirely vegetarian. If you are a vegetarian or vegan, all you need to do is to create a sauce according to your taste. In Iran, most vegetarians use soybeans instead of ground beef and continue following the recipe. However, you can make many other vegan sauces such as a spinach sauce which is made with spinach, garlic, and ground walnuts sauteed with onions and oil.

Serving style of Persian Macaroni:

Iranians usually serve Macaroni as the main course for dinner or lunch. Torshi (ترشی) is the best side dish that makes a fabulous taste along with Macaroni. Salad Shirazi, Lettuce Salad, or any other green salad goes well with this food. Sabzi Khordan, Khiarshoor (Persian pickles) are the best side dishes that Iranians serve next to this food. All drinks are welcomed next to this food. Sweetened sodas, Colas, or Doogh(Persian Yogurt drink) can be served as the beverage next to this food. Note that, this is not a formal dish. They never serve it in official ceremonies such as a wedding party. You can enjoy it in your daily menu or your very casual parties.

What are the ingredients?

The main ingredient is Macaroni. You can choose whatever shape of it that you like the most. Typically in Iran, they use the spaghetti shaped forms. There is ground beef as the second main ingredient. You need onion and vegetable oil to cook the meat, And also you are required to prepare potato slices for a crust. You need a tomato paste and a clove of garlic. Moreover, you need to add bell peppers, mushrooms, and some spices. The spices for this food include salt, pepper, brewed saffron, thymes, and garlic ground.

How to cook Persian Macaroni?

To cook Macaroni, you should first prepare a pot filled water on the heat. Consider it like making Polow. Then you break (to shorten) the spaghetti shape Macaronis and add them to the warm water along with salt. As the water starts to boil, the pasta begins to soften. Meanwhile, you should start making the sauce. For making the sauce, you should saute ground beef with onions and tomato paste and turmeric. You can add garlic at this point. After the meat is cooked, you should add other spices and chopped bell peppers with sliced mushrooms. Then you cook the sauce for 15 minutes. Exactly like cooking Polow, put the sliced potatoes in the bottom of the pot as a crust. Then mix the pasta and sauce and pout it on the crust. Let them cook (Dam Keshidan, Brew) for 45 minutes on low heat.

Recipe:

This recipe is adequate for four people. The preparation time is 15 minutes, and the cooking time is 45 minutes.