Turkish Pasta

A weeknight pasta inspired by manti: short pasta, warmly spiced beef, garlic yogurt, and sizzling paprika butter.

Ingredients

• 225g short pasta, such as farfalle, fusilli, or penne
• salt, for the pasta water
• 450g ground beef
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp red pepper paste or tomato paste
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp sweet paprika
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 2 garlic cloves, finely grated or minced
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 4 tbsp butter
• 1/4 tsp Aleppo pepper, Urfa pepper, or chili flakes, plus more to taste
• cherry tomatoes, halved, optional
• dried mint or parsley, optional
• sumac, optional

Instructions

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta until al dente, reserving a little pasta water before draining.
2. While the pasta cooks, brown the beef in a large skillet over medium heat, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks.
3. Add the onion, red pepper paste or tomato paste, cumin, 1 tsp paprika, salt, and black pepper. Cook until the onion softens and the beef is cooked through, 5-6 minutes. Loosen with a splash of pasta water if it looks dry.
4. Stir the yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, and a pinch of salt together in a bowl. Taste and adjust the salt or lemon.
5. Melt the butter in a small pan. Add the remaining 1 tsp paprika and the Aleppo pepper, then let it bubble briefly until fragrant.
6. Divide the pasta between bowls. Spoon over the garlic yogurt, add the spiced beef, and finish with the paprika butter.
7. Garnish with cherry tomatoes, dried mint or parsley, and sumac if using. Serve immediately while the butter is still hot.