Greek minced beef casserole with kritharaki

Ingredients for 6 servings:

• 1 ½ large onions
• 5 cloves garlic
• 750 g minced beef
• 1 liter vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp thyme, shredded
• 1 ½ tbsp tomato paste
• salt and pepper
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsp paprika powder, sweet
• 2 cans of tomatoes, peeled, in tomato sauce
• 150 ml milk
• 3 tbsp Cremefine
• 500 g Kritharaki (rice-shaped noodles)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 300 g feta cheese

Instructions

Working time approx. 5 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 55 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour

Finely chop the onion and garlic. Brown the ground beef in a deep pan with 2 tablespoons of hot olive oil. Add the onion and garlic along with the thyme and mix. Add the tomato paste and let it roast lightly. Add salt, pepper, cinnamon, cayenne pepper, and paprika. Deglaze with the tomatoes and vegetable stock and bring to a boil. Mix the milk and Cremefine into the ground beef mixture. Add the raw kritharaki and stir well. Pour the mixture into a non-stick baking dish and crumble the feta cheese over it. Bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (top/bottom heat) for about 40 minutes. Drizzle with another 1 tablespoon of olive oil and serve.