Ingredients
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1 1/2 cups water
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1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
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1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
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1 teaspoon salt
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1 pinch black pepper
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uncooked spaghetti, broken into quarters
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thinly sliced raw carrot
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black peppercorns, cooked black beans
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1 (19 ounce) can ground tomatoes
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1 tablespoon granulated sugar
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1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
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1 teaspoon salt
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1/4 teaspoon black pepper
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1 egg, beaten
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1/2 cup uncooked long grain white rice
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, combine the ground beef, rice, onion, egg and 1 teaspoons (5 mL) of the salt. Mix well.
- Now make the rats. Using a measuring cup, scoop out 1/4 cup (50 mL) of the ground beef mixture. Form it, by hand, into a firmly packed teardrop shape — pointy on one end, rounded on the other. This is your basic rat. Place it into a 3-quart (3 liter) shallow baking dish and gently pinch in the neck area. Poke a piece of uncooked spaghetti into the larger rounded end as a tail. Repeat with the remaining ground beef mixture.
- When all the rats are neatly placed in the baking dish, stir together the tomatoes, water, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, remaining 1 teaspoons (5 mL) of salt and 1/4 teaspoons (1 mL) pepper. Pour over the rats. Cover the dish with foil wrap (or a lid, if it has one) and bake at 350° F (180° C) for 45 minutes. Uncover and continue to bake for another 45 to 50 minutes, basting occasionally with sauce, or until the rice is tender and the rats are fully cooked.
- Gently remove rats, one at a time, from the sauce and place gently on a serving platter. (Take care not to damage the tails — they’re fairly delicate.) Into each rat, insert two carrot slices as ears, peppercorns (or whatever) for eyes, and a few more broken strands of uncooked spaghetti for whiskers. Spoon sauce around the rats and serve, smiling wickedly.