making bolognaise sauce from scratch

Mags_cat

As daft as it sounds, a small grated eating apple is also really nice in the sauce. Like the poster above who adds sugar to enhance the tomatoes - this seems to do the same.

HappyLottie

Thank you all for giving me lots of ideas. I'm very grateful for your suggestions and will try some out this week
L x

Moogle

Hi,
Thanks for these recipes! I have just made a batch using my slow cooker and it is lovely, I would never have thought to use the slow cooker to cook bolognaise.

Moogle xxx

HappyLottie

Thanks everyone for your help
Yesterday I made a lovely batch and frozen enough for 2 more meals. I didn't think about putting in a stock cube and added a bit of sugar to the chopped tomatoes (using up my value ones I'm afraid, but will look for offers on the nicer one). Next time I make a batch I'll try some of the other recipes as well.

Lottie x

leeegglestone

I notice lots of people add Red or white wine to food when theyre creating something. I have no idea bout Wine.

What kinds do you actually buy? just the cheapest the supermarkets have?

Mankysteve

overdrawn wrote: »

thanks in advance for all your help,
louise

Well if you want to make it from scratch then you must first invent the Universe.(see Carl Sagan you-tube vids)
i found this recepe on BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/bolognesesauce_1306.shtml very nice, Itll all-ways taste better, be healthier IE less salt maby not less fat in that recipe though. coupled with the joy of doing it yourself as to it being cheaper I don't really know

Stephen_Leak

leeegglestone wrote: »

I notice lots of people add Red or white wine to food when theyre creating something. I have no idea bout Wine.

What kinds do you actually buy? just the cheapest the supermarkets have?

They say that you shouldn't cook with any wine you wouldn't drink, but that doesn't narrow the choice much in my case.

And, in Italy, they would have no problem adding a good white wine to a Bolognese sauce - it doesn't "have" to be a red.

Most supermarkets do some rather nice cheap wines. Lots are from the Languedoc region in the South of France, where they still overproduce wine. Appellation d'Origine Controlee (AOC) ones are on step up from Vin de Pays, but both are quite drinkable and suitable for cooking.

Some really full-bodied reds (from the Shiraz/Syrah grape, for instance) are a bit much even for me. I will have to try my Coq au Vin with some of this.

Stephen_Leak

The current version of my recipe is as follows.

I've added the little tin of tomato puree, as it adds lots of flavour, and also thickens the sauce a bit so you don't have to reduce it down so much and you get an extra portion. It's cheaper than a second tin of tomatoes.

BOLOGNESE SAUCE (and vegetarian version)

Serves 2 - 3

INGREDIENTS

2 cloves of garlic
2 onions
1 tablespoon of olive oil
500g of minced meat
400g tin of plum tomatoes*
140g tin of tomato puree
2 teaspoons of mixed herbs
1 beef stock cube
Ground pepper to taste

METHOD

Peel the garlic and chop it into tiny pieces. Peel the onions and chop them into tiny pieces.

Put the oil into a frying pan on a medium heat. Add the garlic and onion. Fry the garlic and onion for about 2 minutes. Stir frequently to stop it sticking.

Put the meat into the pan and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring all the time. By this time, it should have broken up and be an even colour, with no pink bits.

Open the tin of tomatoes. Pour the juice into the pan. Chop the tomatoes while they are still in the can (it’s easier than chasing them around the pan). Pour the chopped tomatoes into the pan.

Add the tomato puree and herbs. Crumble the stock cube into the pan. Stir thoroughly.

Continue to cook, stirring as the mixture boils, until the sauce has reduced.

Season with the pepper.

ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES

Use minced beef, lamb, pork or turkey, whichever is cheapest. If the pack is a bit less than required, make up the difference with some finely chopped mushrooms, added at the same time as the meat.

Use oregano instead of the mixed herbs.

Add a glass of wine and cook for a bit longer. Or drink the glass of wine and cook for the same time.

Serve with a plain pasta, such as spaghetti, and grated Parmesan cheese. However, there are lots of other plain pastas and the addition of cheese is not considered compulsory in Italy.

The vegetarian version is made by substituting the meat for a 150g packet of soya mince or Protoveg Burgamix, made up according to the instructions on the packet. You can even use 500g of broken up vegetarian hamburgers. Substitute the stock cube for a vegetable one.

TIPS

Always "take the pasta to the sauce". Put the cooked pasta in the pan with the sauce and stir together until thoroughly coated.

* Plum tomatoes can be used either whole or chopped. It is difficult to stick chopped tomatoes back together again if you need to use them whole.

MsDee

Hello everyone,

I am (by my own admissions) a pretty bad cook. However, I can make spag bol.

It goes something like this...Fry lean minced meat in olive oil, dice an onion, pour in a jar of D0lmio light and serve with egg spaghetti.

Can anyone please advise how to make it better - more healthy and more flavours would be really welcomed. It tastes, well....so bland.

Thank you in advance

Gingernutmeg

Add more flavour with vegetables. Dice your onion and add some crushed garlic. Add a diced red or green pepper, and maybe even a diced carrot, and cook these until they're softer. You could even add some diced or sliced mushrooms, and a slug of red wine if you've got it. Add some lean mince and brown this, then add some tinned tomatoes (plum are fine, you can mush them up with your wooden spoon), some mixed herbs or fresh basil, a bit of tomato puree and maybe even some Worcestershire sauce, or a beef stock cube. Simmer this until it's all well combined, and then taste for seasoning - it might need salt, pepper and maybe even a pinch of sugar, if the tomatoes are tart.

There are lots of threads on here which suggest how you can add flavour and bulk things like spag bol out with lentils, oats etc. It might be worth a search