Beef Kaldereta Spaghetti

Kalderetais a stew made with finely chopped garlic, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, pimientoes, chili peppers and chopped liver. I made the stew, added cooked pasta and tossed them all together. It was absolutely delicious!

This is a fairly simple dish to cook. While kaldereta is traditionally served on the Filipino dinner table with steamed rice, I was thinking of making the usual tomato-based pasta sauce a little different.

While kaldereta is normally cooked with beef cubes, big chunks of meat would not go well with pasta. I cut the beef as though I was going to use it for stroganoff. It cut the cooking time by half and the size was just right for a pasta dish.

This dish can also be prepared using leftover kaldereta. However, the meat will have to be sliced before tossing the pasta in.

Pureed cooked liver or liver pate can be used instead of canned liver spread. If using cooked liver, I suggest processing it in a blender or food processor.

Ingredients :

1/2 k. of stewing beef, cut into 1/4″ slices
2 large onions
4 tomatoes
2 bell peppers
1 sweet skinless pimiento (canned)
1 tbsp. of finely minced garlic
1 bay leaf
1 hot chili pepper, crushed
2 tbsp. of butter or margarine
1 tbsp. of sugar
salt and pepper
2 tbsp. of liver spread (canned)
2 tbsp. of olive oil
225 g. of spaghetti

How to :

Cook the spaghetti according to package directions. Drain well and keep warm.

Cut the beef slices into 1″ x 2″ strips. Season with salt and pepper. Finely chop the onions, tomatoes, bell peppers and pimiento.

Heat the olive oil and butter or margarine in a heavy skillet. Pan-fry the beef strips until the edges start to brown. Add the garlic, onions, tomatoes, bell peppers, chili pepper, pimiento, bay leaf, tomato paste, and 1 c. of water. Season with salt, pepper and sugar. Bring to a boil, cover, lower the heat and simmer until beef is very tender (about 1 hour). Liquid should be reduced by half and sauce should be a little thick. Add the liver spread and adjust seasonings.

Add the cooked pasta to the skillet and toss until the pasta has absorbed most of the liquid. Serve hot with grated cheese on the side.