A one-pan weeknight dinner — spiced ground beef, Portuguese bagos pasta, chickpeas, wilted spinach, and feta brightened with lemon. One pan, about 30 minutes. Serves 2.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 250 g ground beef
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp ground cinnamon (optional — adds warm background sweetness; start with a smaller pinch if unsure)
- 150 g bagos pasta (the small Portuguese soup pasta — works just like orzo)
- ~240 g chickpeas, drained (most of a 400 g tin; the whole tin is fine too, just a bit heartier)
- 450 ml chicken stock (1 Knorr cube crumbled into 450 ml hot water — see notes)
- 150 g cherry tomatoes, halved
- 100 g fresh spinach
- 1 lemon (both zest and juice — see notes)
- 80 g feta cheese, crumbled
- ½ tsp salt (taste first — stock cube and feta are both salty)
- ¼ tsp black pepper
Instructions
- Brown the beef. Heat the olive oil in a large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until browned and any liquid has cooked off — about 5–6 minutes. Spoon off excess fat if there’s a lot. Don’t rush this; the browned bits stuck to the pan carry the whole dish.
- Sauté the aromatics. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 4 minutes. Stir in the garlic, cumin, oregano, and cinnamon (if using) and cook 1 minute until fragrant. Blooming the spices in the hot oil here is what mellows and rounds them out.
- Toast the bagos. Add the bagos and stir for 1–2 minutes so it lightly toasts and picks up the spices and browned bits.
- Simmer. Pour in the chicken stock and add the chickpeas and cherry tomatoes. Bring to a gentle simmer, then cook uncovered, stirring often so the pasta doesn’t stick, until the bagos are tender and most of the liquid is absorbed. Start tasting at 8 minutes — usually done by 10–12. If it drinks up the stock before tender, splash in a little more hot water; if it looks soupy once tender, simmer an extra minute or two.
- Wilt the spinach. Wash the spinach unless it’s pre-washed (a little water clinging to the leaves is fine — it helps). Stir it in a handful at a time until each batch collapses from raw and bulky to soft and dark green, then add the next. It shrinks dramatically. Once there are no stiff raw leaves left, season with the salt and pepper.
- Finish & serve. Take the pan off the heat. Zest the lemon (just the yellow outer skin, not the white pith), then cut it and squeeze in the juice — start with about half the juice and most of the zest, taste, and add more if you want it brighter. Scatter the feta over the top, let it sit 2 minutes so it softens, and serve warm.
Notes & tips
- Bagos / Biava: a small grain-shaped Portuguese soup pasta — same role as orzo. It cooks a touch faster, so start tasting around the 8-minute mark and stir often; small pasta likes to stick.
- Stock cubes (Knorr): each standard 10 g cube flavors 500 ml of water, so one cube is right for 450 ml. You can crumble it straight into the pan at the simmer step with hot water — no need to dissolve it first.
- Lemon: zest is the fragrant colored outer skin (grate it off with a fine grater); juice is what you squeeze from inside. Use both, and add to taste at the end, off the heat.
- Cinnamon: a little with beef and cumin is classically Eastern Mediterranean. Keep it as background warmth — ¼ tsp max for two.
- Salt: taste before adding the recipe’s salt — the stock cube and feta are both salty.
- Make it heartier: a fried egg on top, or some crusty bread on the side.
- Leftovers keep in the fridge for about a day.