Sunday supper: Samosa Pasta

Serves 3 to 4.

There’s never a bad time for pasta — or enough recipes for a quick Sunday night dinner after a busy weekend. This one’s from “Flavor” by Sabrina Ghayour, who writes: “I absolutely love lamb samosas. The spicy filling with occasional sweet bursts of peas, and the ratio of meat to wonderful crisp pastry is literally one of the world’s best inventions. But I have often wondered what combining that kind of filling with pasta would taste like, and it’s really rather good, I can tell you. We love it in my household, and even though I pack in the spices, the kids love it, too. ... It’s a really simple recipe to make using peas from the freezer and spices and pasta from the cupboards together with some ground beef.” (Aster 2024)

• Vegetable oil

• 1 large onion, finely chopped

• 9 oz. ground beef

• 1 heaping tsp. granulated garlic

• 1 tsp. cumin seeds

• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon

• 1 tsp. ground turmeric

• 1 tsp. red pepper flakes

• 3 tbsp. tomato paste

• Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper

• 1 c. warm water

• 3 handfuls of frozen peas

• 9 oz. farfalle pasta, or the pasta shape of your choice

• 1/4 c. coarsely chopped cilantro

Directions

Place a large skillet over medium-high heat, drizzle in some vegetable oil, and fry the onion until nicely browned. Add the ground beef and immediately break it up as finely as you can to prevent it from cooking in clumps.

Add the garlic granules, cumin seeds, cinnamon, turmeric, red pepper flakes, tomato paste, and a generous amount of salt and pepper. Stir-fry the ground beef for a few minutes. Pour in the warm water and stir-fry again until the water has mostly evaporated. Lastly, stir in the peas and then turn off the heat.

Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water following the package directions, then drain, reserving a cup of the cooking water. Add the pasta to the spicy beef mixture and place over medium-high heat. Pour in the reserved pasta water and mix together well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if desired, then add the cilantro, stir through, and serve.