Spag Bol

stormbreaker

Can anyone help with a simple receipe? I know its not difficult but for someone who does not cook I am at a loss! I know to brown the mince, add veg, tomatoes and garlic! What other ingredients are needed? Please?

custardy

for us
sweat down onions & garlic (mushrooms if you like)
add & brown mince
add oregano
add tomato paste,cook off for a bit
add chopped tomatoes,passata or whatever I have
cook it off for an hour or longer

all amounts to taste

Liz3yy

Spag bol is simple!

This is what I do....

Fry off half a large or a whole small onion plus loads of mushrooms
Add beef mince and cook till brown
chuck in two tins of tomatoes with a splash of balsamic vinegar and half a tin of water and let it reduce till thick
I also add a squirt of tomato puree and a chicken stock cube for flavour

Then you can simmer for as long as you like, adding more water if it looks dry. The longer and slower you cook it the better it tastes.

Mrs_Arcanum

Classic Bolognaise
1 tbsp olive oil
3 rashers of streaky 'pancetta' bacon, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 carrot, chopped
Small stick of celery
500g lean minced beef
1 large glass of red wine
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 fresh or dried bay leaf
salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Heat the oil in a heavy-based saucepan and fry the bacon until golden over a medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, frying until softened. Increase the heat and add the minced beef. Fry it until it has browned. Pour in the wine and boil until it has reduced in volume by about a third. Reduce the temperature and stir in the tomatoes and celery.

Cover & simmer over a low heat for 1 hour plus.

Serve with any pasta and freshly grated parmesan.

Mushrooms should never appear in a proper Bolognaise sauce.

Fruball

Here is what I do

Mix the uncooked mince with a tbsp flour and a beef oxo cube (this makes a huge difference to texture and easy browning, and to the finished dish) and fry until browned

add a chopped onion and fry off a bit longer

add tinned tomatoes, splash of worcester sauce and oregano (or basil, or mixed herbs) and lots of ground pepper

cook for about 20/30 mins - longer if you like

(i also had a good glug of mushroom ketchup but not many people have that in)

Pink.

This thread has lots of recipes that should help:

making bolognaise sauce from scratch

I'll merge this thread with that one later to keep the recipes together.

Pink

rachbc

Mrs Arcanum is spot on the - anything else might be beef and tom sauce but it ain't bolognese!

I do like to add a big of grated nutmeg at the end too though!

krlyr

One cheat I do is buy tinned tomatoes that already have herbs and garlic in them. Tesco stock a brand online (haven't seen them in our store but it's only an Express) that are really cheap and never had any issues with the flavour of them here, and Sainsbury also do a passata with garlic and herbs too. I also have a tub of Italian Seasoning (Tesco ownbrand, Schwartz do their own - at twice the price though!) which really helps. If I had no other herbs at all, I'd just have the Italian Seasoning, it makes a huge difference.
Another tip I got given on here - if you're used to something like a Dolmio sauce, remember that sugar will have been added. Add a small amount of sugar to your own recipe to get the same sweetness, otherwise it will seem bland. You will find your tastebuds adjust and you can reduce the amount of sugar you use over time, but initially we found it too much of a contrast without.
Also, I used to prepare it in the slow cooker for ease but have found that making it on the hob and allowing it to simmer and reduce makes a huge different to the flavour, it just wasn't hitting the spot when made in the slow cooker, same ingredients done on the hob and it tastes divine!

Fruball

krlyr wrote: »

One cheat I do is buy tinned tomatoes that already have herbs and garlic in them. Tesco stock a brand online (haven't seen them in our store but it's only an Express) that are really cheap and never had any issues with the flavour of them here, and Sainsbury also do a passata with garlic and herbs too. I also have a tub of Italian Seasoning (Tesco ownbrand, Schwartz do their own - at twice the price though!) which really helps. If I had no other herbs at all, I'd just have the Italian Seasoning, it makes a huge difference.
Another tip I got given on here - if you're used to something like a Dolmio sauce, remember that sugar will have been added. Add a small amount of sugar to your own recipe to get the same sweetness, otherwise it will seem bland. You will find your tastebuds adjust and you can reduce the amount of sugar you use over time, but initially we found it too much of a contrast without.
Also, I used to prepare it in the slow cooker for ease but have found that making it on the hob and allowing it to simmer and reduce makes a huge different to the flavour, it just wasn't hitting the spot when made in the slow cooker, same ingredients done on the hob and it tastes divine!

Sweetener works just as well and even half a tsp of bicarb soda does the job with no sugar at all