We very seldom eat pasta in our household.

My intention is to learn to make my own pasta from scratch, but for now I am using the store bought variety.

My dad is not a huge pasta fan, so it is just me and my mum who are the carb eaters in the house.

Growing up, pasta was what I lived on, the joys of being an athlete I guess. My mum used to make pasta and I used to eat pasta till it used to come out of my ears… just kidding.

I came across this recipe in my gran’s cookbook and when I tasted it, it brought bake a familiar taste.

My mum simply loved this dish, she mentioned that this dish was made a lot of me, especially when trial meets were coming up. But alas I do not remember this, but the taste did taste familiar though.

I altered my grans recipe a little bit, as I thought it was a bit bland seeing as this recipe does date back to May 1978, the year before I was born. I love this old recipes, they are so easy to make with such simple ingredients that are staples in anyone’s pantry and the fact that they season with both salt and pepper.

Modern recipes only also say season with salt and to tell you the truth the addition of pepper takes these dishes to a new flavour all together.

Ingredients:

• 160g x cooked macaroni.
• 1 x onion, finely sliced.
• 1 x green pepper, finely cubed.
• 1 x tsp jeera seeds.
• 1 x tsp turmeric powder.
• 1 x tbsp. curry powder.
• 1 x tsp cayenne pepper
• 2 x tomatoes, grated.
• 2 x tsp sugar.
• Salt and pepper to season.
• 1 x can 420g Baked beans in tomatoe sauce.

Method:

• Heat some oil in a pot.
• Add the onions and greenpeppers, saute till the onions are transparent.
• Add all the spices and seasoning, give it a good stir and allow to cook for a couple of minutes.
• Add the tomatoe and cook till the tomatoe becomes soft and starts turning into a gracy.
• Add a little water at a time to thicken up the gravy. I used a cup of water.
• Add the baked beans and stir allowing the beans to cook for 10 minutes.

Add the macaroni and cook till the macaroni heats through and the sauce has been reduced