Turkish-ish Pasta
This dish is inspired by the viral pasta dish simply entitled Turkish Pasta by content creator Anna Paul—and I was duly intrigued—I mean who doesn’t love all these elements? Deeply savory spiced butter and a kicky creamy yogurt sauce atop ground meat and pasta—sounds delicious to me and the fact that it’s at the table in basically 20 minutes is a win. I’ve given things a little Asian twist by incorporating some of my favorite pantry ingredients—a hit of chili crisp in the butter and five spice in the ground meat which give a unique but complementary take on this dish. Give it a whirl for an easy, quick, flavor-packed dinner.
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
Spiced Butter
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
½ teaspoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon chili crisp
Everything Else
1 pound short dry pasta such as farfalle
1 pound ground pork
1 teaspoon sweet paprika
½ teaspoon curry powder
½ teaspoon five spice
½ yellow onion, diced
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 to 2 garlic cloves, minced finely
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
¼ cup parsley, plus more sprigs for garnish
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
METHOD
Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
In a heavy bottomed skillet or wok over medium heat, add butter and paprika. Stir until melted, then stir in chili crisp. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
Drop the pasta in the boiling water and cook to al dente.
While pasta is cooking, wipe out the pan (or wok) and return to medium high heat. Add ground pork, sweet paprika, curry powder and five spice. Cook, using a wooden spoon or spatula and break up into small pieces. Add onion, then season with salt and pepper. Cook until meat is cooked through, browned and almost crisp is spots and onions are softened.
In a small bowl, stir together yogurt, garlic and a pinch of salt until combined.
Drain pasta and return to the pot. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and mix to coat.
To serve, spoon pasta into bowls, then top with pork. Add dollops of yogurt atop, then distribute tomatoes amongst the bowls. Garnish liberally with parsley and drizzle with a nice amount of spiced butter, garnish with parsley sprigs and serve.