SPICED BEEF AND FETA LINGUINE

Since most of the cooking time for this spiced beef dish is done in the slow cooker this is a great recipe to make on a busy weeknight. Once the meat comes out of the slow cooker, you can have dinner on the table in 30 minutes or less!

• 1½ Pounds Spiced Beef, Shredded
• 2 Large Yellow Onions, finely chopped
• 8 Medium Garlic Cloves, Minced
• 2 Tablespoons Ground Cumin
• 2 Teaspoons Sweet Paprika
• 2 Teaspoons Cinnamon
•  Kosher Salt and Ground Black Pepper
• 28 Ounce Can Whole Peeled Tomatoes, crushed by hand
• 12 Ounces Linguine
• 8 Ounces Feta Cheese, Shredded
• ½ to 1 Cup Chopped Fresh Basil

To make the spiced shredded beef:

1. In a 12-inch skillet, sear the meat. Remove the meat from the skillet and place in the slow cooker.
2. Next, place garlic and onion in the 12-inch skillet and sauté. Add the sautéed onions and garlic to slow cooker.
3. In a bowl, combine the cumin, paprika, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper, and ¼ cup water. Pour over meat.
4. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours, or until tender.
5. Remove spiced beef from slow cooker; cool slightly and shred with 2 forks. Discarding any fat.

   

6. Place the spiced shredded beef in a 12-inch skillet. Stir in the crushed tomatoes with juices and bring to a simmer. Then reduce the heat to medium and cook uncovered, stirring, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce has thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, in a large pot, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Stir in the pasta and 2 tablespoons salt; cook until the pasta is al dente. Reserve about 1 cup of the pasta cooking water, then drain the pasta. Return the pasta to the pot. Add about ¾ of the feta and toss. Add pasta cooking water by the ¼ cupful, tossing after each addition until you get the creamy texture you like. Taste and season with salt and pepper, then transfer to a serving platter.
8. Stir the basil into the sauce, then taste and season with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the pasta and sprinkle with the remaining feta.

Be sure to check out the tips at the bottom of the page!

For a easy weeknight meal 90 percent lean ground beef (or other ground meat) can used for this recipe. Just don’t use anything fattier than 90 percent lean or the sauce will be greasy. Rather than the 6-8 hours that the recipe above takes, this recipe takes just 45 minutes from start to finish.

1. 1. In a medium bowl, combine the beef, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, 1 teaspoon each salt and pepper and ¼ cup water. Mix with your hands until homogenous.
   2. Add the spiced beef mixture, onion and garlic to a 12-inch skillet. Set the pan over medium-high and cook, stirring and breaking up the meat with a spatula, until the onion has softened and the beef is no longer pink, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes with juices and bring to a simmer, then reduce to medium and cook uncovered, stirring, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce has thickened, 10 to 15 minutes.
   3. Meanwhile, in a large pot, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Stir in the pasta and 2 tablespoons salt; cook until the pasta is al dente. Reserve about 1 cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta. Return the pasta to the pot. Add about ¾ of the feta and toss. Add cooking water by the ¼ cupful, tossing until you get the creamy texture you’re looking for. Taste and season with salt and pepper, then transfer to a serving platter.
   4. Stir the basil into the sauce, then taste and season with salt and pepper. Pour the sauce over the pasta and sprinkle with the remaining feta.

• We use boneless roast beef chuck or round roast to make shredded beef. However, according to Steak School by Stanbroke brisket and skirt cuts are also great beef choices for slow cooking.
• If your slow cooker has sauté/sear features you can sear the meat and sauté the aromatics right in your slow cooker.
• Gently shred the feta cheese using the large holes of the box grater. Putting the block in the freezer for 15 – 20 minutes before shredding will help make this soft cheese more manageable. Also, coating the face of the grater with a light coating of oil or non-stick cooking spray will help reduce the mess. 
• A homogeneous mixture is simply any mixture that is uniform in composition throughout. As long as each substance is mixed in enough to be indistinguishable from the others, it is a homogeneous mixture.
• A trick we learned from Bon Appétit for no mess tomato crushing, is to pour the can of whole tomatoes into a resealable plastic bag, sealed it, and crush. You can even reuse the bag to store the leftover pasta in. That is, if there are any leftovers 🙂
• Adjust the amount and type of fresh herbs used based on your personal flavor preference. Mint, Marjoram, Rosemary, or Tarragon can also be used for this recipe.
• Double the slow cooker portion in this recipe and use half the shredded beef to make shredded steak sandwiches, tacos, or any other recipe that calls for shredded meat.
• Does it drive you crazy when recipes say you should season with salt and pepper to taste? I get your frustration and struggle with that very subjective instruction, too! Here’s some guidance to help you. Salt to taste has more to do with adding the right amount of salt to bring out the flavors in the food. Pepper to taste deals with how much heat you want the dish to have. Always taste something (that’s cooked) before adding seasoning. Try to ignore the instinct to taste for saltiness. You don’t actually want the dish to taste salty, but rather, you want to enhance the flavor of the ingredients. Do the greens still taste bitter? Can you taste the natural sweetness of the squash? If a recipe tastes like it’s missing something, the two most likely culprits are salt and acidity. And, A pinch of salt or a squeeze of lemon juice will often fix it. When a recipe calls for seasoning raw meat “to taste,” a good place to start is about 1/8 teaspoon of kosher salt per portion. A good rule to follow is to always season with a light hand while cooking and then adjust the seasoning just before serving.