making bolognaise sauce from scratch

Pipkin

I always use the basic bolognese sauce from Lidls, but I add tomato puree, garlic and a few glugs of worcester sauce..it always tastes pretty nice.

floyd

I make a huge vat of pasta sauce around once a month and get abut 16 good-size servings from this recipe. We use it as a base for chilli, lasagne, canneloni, curry and soup. My friends Dad is from Naples and he said its fine to use canned tomatoes as long as you add a level teaspoon of sugar for every 2 cans. I did try making it with fresh tomatoes once but it was very watery and didn't taste of anything because most supermarket tomatoes are crap.

2 Extra large Spanish onions
11 cans of plum tomatoes
2 large jars of passata
6-8 cloves of garlic
2-3 red chillies
2 tbsp olive oil
2 packets of fresh basil or 1 large plant
Lots of black pepper
6 tsp natural cane sugar

1. Finely dice the onions and add to a large cauldron pan with oil.
2. Cook over a moderate heat for 10 minutes or until tender.
3. For the last 2 minutes of the 10, add the garlic and chilli and cook without burning.
4. Add the tins of tomatoes whole and the passata then blend thoroughly with the hand liquidizer until smooth (approx 3-4 minutes).
5. Turn down the heat and reduce for 5-6 hours until very thick.
6. Before serving, add 2 large handfuls of torn basil leaves.

Cruiksl

Glad a couple of people mentioned the worcester sauce - it makes a huge difference and gives it a little kick ! I sometimes add chillies fresh or flakes to make it a little spicer.

We freeze the leftovers all the time, then once or twice a week when I can't be bothered cooking - then we have what we call a freezer tea :j

Lynn

Lyndsay_21

the recipe i've got which is an italian one which simmers for 3 hours or so but it says to NOT use lean mince as you need the fat in the mince as it gves it a 'sweet' flavour.

i use this and now would never go back to jars etc i use 1kg mine and it does 3/4 dinners will post recipe when i have a bit more time but it is FAB

vik6525

Oh, I know im gonna get shouted at for this, but now and again (like tonight weirdly!) I make 'lamb and mint' version of it... I buy lamb mince instead of beef, make the basic sauce, cook for an hour or so, and then just before serving, add two teaspoons of mint sauce, and a glug of milk. stir em in and YUM! a different take on an otherwise weekly meal in our house!

alips_2

my recipe is similar to one posted on the 1st page.
I have discovered that if i make 5lb mince into bol at a time we can get 7/8 meals for 6 out of it. rather than the 1 and a little that you use anyway cos its not worth saving.
excellent ready meals for those quick teas when the kids have activities.
Ali

jaxxy00

How do you go about eating it once you have frozen it?

Do you have to thaw out first or can you heat it from frozen? What if i make a double batch of bolognaise which includes the mince then freeze that, does that have to be thawed or not? Hope ive not made that sound too confusing.

Fivenations

If I have forgotten to take it out I pop mine in the microwave on the defrost setting though have done it on full if in a hurry. I have also warmed it up in a pan, adding a little water to start it off. Just remember to ensure it is piping hot before eating.

dfwz

So I wanted to make SpagBol and it was supposed to do 7 of us. Sent the OH down to get some tomatoes, but forgot onions... Anyway OH gets back with a tiny little tub of tomatoes to make spagbol with meatballs for 7 of us!

I've never made this from scratch before, I'm a proper cooking newbie but I'm getting there.

So... I made pizza yesterday and had some of the sauce left over from that. Threw that in. Then threw in the fresh toms and a tin of toms I had. Still not enough.

So in the cupboard we have tons of tins of stuff we haven't finished up since I started proper cooking. I'm looking for anything tomato like... "Baxters Tomato and Brown Lentil Soup" It had peas and potatoes and things in it. Ah well that'll work, tossed two of those in! :rotfl: Then some garlic various herbs and cayenne pepper for a bit of a kick and went at it with the hand blender.

It made fantastic Bolognese, we had friends in and they remarked that it was "restaurant quality". Not bad for just throwing it together with random bits!

Not very old style to use tinned soup, but it is money saving as we'd probably not eaten that soup, since it's nasty on it's own.

moanymoany

I make a basic spag bog which I freeze and use for chilli, cottage pie, pasta.

Chop and fry in small amount oil or butter for 10 minutes.
1 large onion
1 large carrot
1 stick celery

If I haven't got the celery I leave it out. I often put in more veg, it depends on what I have or want.

add 2 cloves garlic chopped - 1 minute - add 200gs mince or quorn and fry till brown.

add 2 tins tomatoes, 2 tins water and 1 stock cube. Bay leaves and herbs you like.

Now, I've just discovered something. Dried soya mince. At this stage I measure 100 grams, cover it with boiled water, leave it for 10 minutes and then add it to the simmering mix.

Simmer the whole lot for at least an hour uncovered and if you can simmer for longer do that.

When it is looking thick taste and add extra seasoning. Because it thickens the tastes intensify and it is easy to oversalt.