This should come out somewhere between a soup and a stew and of course there are multiple variations of this recipe. I've seen recipes with oregano or laurel. This is one I've learned from my boyfriend, who learned it from his uncle. The quantities and proportions are not greatly important however the pans are! Unless cooking for a lot of people you will probably need to fry the ingredients in one pan and transfer to a smaller-base pan to cook the potato and pasta in the liquid which you will add to the recipe.
Ingredients, per person:Quarter of a red onion
Handful of raw beef, cut into small strips (the better the beef, the better the finished result)
Half a red pepper, cut into strips
Two tomatoes, core removed and cut into dice
Dessertspoon of tomato puree, if available, or a third tomato
Small clove of garlic, crushed
Touch of locoto (very hot chili powder)
Raw potato (size of small fist), cut into dice
Small handful of uncooked pasta
Salt and pepper to season
Oil to fry
MethodFry the onion and beef until cooked and just turning golden. Add the red pepper strips and fry for another minute or so. At this point I would recommend transferring to another pan with a smaller base to as you will now be cooking a soup.
Add the tomatoes (and tomato puree, if using), garlic and locoto to taste. Season as necessary. Then add water to double the volume of the stew. Bring to the boil. Observing the required cooking time of the pasta, add the diced potato and then the pasta shapes as appropriate. Reduce the heat to simmer. The pasta will most likely take longer to cook than normal as it will not be submerged during all of the cooking time.
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