Striped penne with ground beef and mozzarella

Place the bacon in a large deep pan and let it fry. You want the fat to render and leave all its flavour in the pan, so cook it on a low heat. When ready, remove it from the pan and add the ground beef. Break the ground beef up lightly with your hand or with a wooden spoon. Turn the heat up, medium to high, and take care not to add all the ground beef at once. It’s better to add half at a time so that it caramelises properly. Once the ground beef has taken on a nice colour, place it in a bowl and set aside.

Add the chopped onion to the pan and sauté lightly with the remaining fat. If necessary, add a tablespoon of water. Once the onion softens, add the ground beef back into the pan, increase the heat, and add the sautéed bacon (after finely chopping it), paprika, cinnamon, allspice, salt, bay leaf, and cumin. Fry the spices until they are fragrant, highlighting their aromas. After mixing well, deglaze with the soy sauce and ouzo. Wait for the alcohol to evaporate and add the tomato and half the finely chopped parsley. Simmer over medium to low heat for about 20-25 minutes. Don’t forget to taste and season with salt, and to remove the bay leaf and as much of the allspice as possible.

Boil the penne in a pot. Once ready, strain and set aside one cup of the pasta water. Set aside half the ground beef. Mix the penne with the rest of the ground beef left in the pan and thinly slice the mozzarella.

You want the mozzarella to melt. Two easy ways are to either spread it on the penne mixed with the ground beef in the pan and place it in a preheated oven (180^oC for 5 minutes) [Please note: make sure your pan does not have a plastic handle], or to serve on plates with the mozzarella, and place them in the microwave for one minute.

Once the mozzarella has melted, add the ground beef we set aside over it. Sprinkle with parsley and your dish is ready to serve.

EXTRA TIP

If your ground beef mixture is dry, slowly add some of the pasta water you set aside from the penne, a little at a time, until it thickens.