15 Minute Ground Beef Turkish Pasta

This ground beef mince Turkish pasta is the easiest pasta dish you can whip up and is perfect for when you are short on time. If you need a quick 15 minute recipe that will feed a lot of people this beef pasta is perfect. It's made with beef mince and pasta topped with a delicious garlicky yogurt sauce and paprika butter to finish it off. It makes for great leftovers and is ideal for lunchboxes too.

I saw this Turkish pasta recipe on Anna Paul's TikTok account. She is a Queensland based influencer that has her own skincare range and she travels the world eating food, shopping and having a great time. She shared her mother's Turkish pasta recipe and I was so intrigued to try it because I love Turkish flavours especially after visiting Istanbul, Kuşadası and Dikili this year.

The selling point was that it was an easy recipe. The "sauce" is made while the pasta boils and while everything is cooking you can quickly mix the garlic with the yogurt and the paprika with melted butter. I don't even have to give you any tips for success because it is so easy. The only thing I would add is that this also works with chicken or pork mince too! Also sometimes I add some sumac just because I love the flavour of it and it really reminds me of Turkey. It looks like they use regular mince as it releases a lot of oil but I used a 50/50 mix of lean and regular mince. If you use all lean mince you may have to add some oil to fry the onion.

I'm sharing this recipe in amongst all the Christmas recipes because I think you might find it helpful. If there's a time one needs this recipe it is in the frantic preamble before Christmas. I have made this twice in the last fortnight and since there are only two of us, it has lasted for 2-3 days worth of dinners which has been so helpful when everything is getting so hectic.

Speaking of hectic, while having two dogs is like doubling the work, there are ways in which Milo has helped Teddy. We recently went away to the South Coast and took both dogs with us. The drive from Sydney is around 3 hours and Teddy has always been a nervous car passenger. If he was in the car for even 10 minutes he would start to lick his lips and froth at the mouth. When we first got him we bought him a high seat so he could see outside but he would still worry. Sometimes he would still throw up no matter what we would do.

Enter his little brother Milo.

We decided to put them both on the same bed, even though it is lower because Teddy seems to find comfort with Milo. The two little personalities couldn't be more different. Milo happily sticks his head out of the window, tongue hanging out and the breeze blowing through this thick chocolate curls. People always point and wave at Milo when we drive past. And over the last couple of years Teddy has watched his brother's ease at being in the car and there is no more worrying, licking lips or anxiety. Teddy can now handle long drives in the car without any anxiety. I don't know if he will ever hang out of the car window like his little brother does but time will tell!

So tell me Dear Reader, is life very hectic for you at the moment? Do you have your Christmas lunch or dinner planned already?

Ground Beef Turkish Pasta

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 5 minutes

Cooking time: 15 minutes concurrently

Serves: 4 people (6 if served with salad)

• 350g/12.4ozs your favourite dried pasta (I used 26 gnocco)
• 250g/8.8ozs lean beef mince (you can use all regular beef mince)
• 250g/8.8ozs regular beef mince
• 1.5 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons paprika sweet
• 1 cup/250g/8.8ozs Greek yogurt
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3-4 large tomatoes
• 1/2 cup parsley, chopped
• 60g/2ozs butter, melted
• 2 teaspoons paprika sweet
• Salt and pepper to season

Step 1 - Put a large pot of salted water onto boil and cook the pasta for 7-8 minutes or until al dente. While it is cooking heat a large frying pan on medium high heat. Place both types of beef mince in the pan (don't add oil) and fry tossing well and making sure the pieces are small. Halfway through add the curry powder and use the spatula to distribute it pressing down so that the beef is finely crumbed.

Step 2 - When the beef is completely cooked through add the onion and paprika (the beef should release fat so there should be no need to add any oil). Sauté until onion is soft and translucent.

Step 3 -Meanwhile mix the yogurt with the garlic in a medium sized bowl. In another small bowl mix the melted butter and paprika. Dice the tomatoes and roughly chop the parsley.

Step 4 -When the pasta is done, the beef should be ready. Drain the pasta and mix it with the beef mixture. Top with tomatoes, parsley, garlic yogurt and finish with paprika butter.