Spaghetti Bolognese for 10+?

littlenicki

Hi all, Ive stupidly agreed to make spaghetti bolognese for 10-12 people and I was wondering how much of everything im likely to need? They are all lads and eat a LOT. Im planning on bulking out with lentils and oats but was wondering how much mince/pasta/tomatoes/onions etc you would all use??

Help! Ive never had to cook for so many people!

poppysarah

onion, celery, carrots in equal amounts - chop finely and fry until reduced in size (5-10 mins maybe)
Then add a big thing of mince.

800g of mince will do 3 meals for 3 with the veg mix too. So I'd guess a bit more wouldn't hurt but I think you'd need two huge pans!

Use passata instead of tomatoes if you can find it cheap as it's less effort than tins. (Morrisons value stuff was 25p a tub!)

rachbc

I'd work on 100g mince per person - so 1- 1.2 kg, 1 onion, stick or celery, carrot and tin of toms per 3/4 people so 4 of each....

FrugalFriend

rachbc wrote: »

I'd work on 100g mince per person - so 1- 1.2 kg, 1 onion, stick or celery, carrot and tin of toms per 3/4 people so 4 of each....

I agree, I use half a pack of mince for 2, and the pack is usually 450-500g. So that's about 100g per person. Though I use a ready made sauce, I can highly recommend Lidls Combino Bolognese sauce, it's soooo tomatoey, and a very good price. I usually add about half a teaspoon of dried mixed herbs as well. Lidls spaghetti pasta is good too. The key is quality mince, I find Aldis is good, and about 7% fat.

So is how I would do it:

1) Fry the mince in a very large saucepan/pot (I don't use any oil), Drain off excess fat.
2) Lower the heat and add the sauce, and dried herbs. Simmer for 15 mins,
3) Now boil a large pot of water, and add pasta spaghetti. Also simmer for 15 mins.
4) After 15 mins drain spaghetti, portion on to hot plates and add meat sauce.
5) Serve and relax!

Kittendreich

Does it have to be Spag Bol? What about maybe making lasagne instead (same ingredients, different order!)? If you are not used to cooking for large numbers getting that much spaghetti cooked right and all served at the last minute might be a bit stressful (especially if you don't have big enough pots and have to have lots of small pans on the go). It can all be done in advance and then just heated up. It will save any worries about running out of sauce and you could use disposible foil trays if you don't have a big enough one. A big pile of garlic bread also useful for bulking it out and making sure noone goes hungry.

littlenicki

thank you for all the replys im not a fan of lasagne so think i will stick to the bolognese. Thank you for the suggested amounts etc

beedeedee

May I also suggest you use slightly smaller plates? The spag bol will go that bit further......(it'll look like they've put plenty on their plates)!

misskaytee

Plenty of garlic/plain bagettes to help fill em up!

I have one massive pan / stock pot aswel as a normal sized set of pans.
when i need to do anything like your doing i would cook the BOL first, i then transfer it to a large deep sided oven tray and pop it in the oven, wash the pan and would cook the pasta in the same pan ive just used.

I sorry i cant help with quantities for ingredients, im one of those people who just adds stuff as i go and hope for the best!

Tish_P

The thing to remember about cooking pasta for a crowd is how surprisingly long it can take to boil a massive pan of water. Also it can be heavy and dangerous to drain the pasta so make sure that you have a clear path between the stove and the sink and a large colander ready.

Fusilli (the twisty shapes) don't stick together or tangle, so are easier to cook and serve than spaghetti.

kentclaire1

Hi, have you got a large slow cooker, that you could transfer the finished blog into, this way you could prepare blog in advance and let people help themselves, once pasta is cooked.