Greek Meat Pasta (Makaronia me kima) Recipe

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil; cook the rotini at a boil until tender yet firm to the bite about 8 minutes; drain. Transfer to a large bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat; cook and stir ground beef until browned about 10 minutes. Add tomatoes onion water tomato paste cinnamon sugar cayenne salt and pepper; stir to combine. Simmer meat sauce over medium-low heat until flavors combine 20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

Pour meat sauce over rotini; mix well. Pour half the pasta mixture into a casserole dish; sprinkle with half the Mizithra cheese and half the mozzarella cheese. Top with remaining pasta mixture; sprinkle remaining Mizithra cheese and mozzarella cheese.

Bake in the preheated oven until cheese is melted and bubbling about 40 minutes.