Spag bol help!

heavenleigh

Evening all,
I have to admit that i try to make most meals from scratch but when it comes to spag bol i usually have the extra mushroom and corguette variety in the cupboard to add to the mince!
Tonight i had mince to use but no 'ready' sauce.
I browned the mince, threw in some onions, tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, garlic and origano but for some reason it still tastes quite bland! ( i have never done this before so just threw it in as i came across the ingredients.

Have i missed something? or have i just got the ammounts wrong to the ingredients i have added? or is it just the simple fact that i am so used to the dolmio stuff that anything i make wont taste as good?

Any help appreciated.

Leigh xx

thriftlady_2

Salt ? bottled sauces usually have quite a lot of salt in them

I also put garlic, a good quality beef stock cube (Kallo brand), wine and pepper in mine.

The longer you cook it the better the flavour

nealallen

Mmmmm, Spag-bol, my fav

Like you I'm a 'ready' sauce man. One thing I can say. Don't fry the Mince off, can leave a very bland/dry taste. What I do is. But tinned carrots. Remove the lid and pour just a couple of tablespoons on the juice into he pan, add the mince/salt and pepper and on a slow heat turn the mince still it starts to brown. As the colour starts to turn you will see lots of fluid (water) that's come from the mince. Remove it by draining and then carry on.

You will find you have a thicker and a more tasty spag-bol at the end

P.S. NEVER forget the sauce :-)

Kantankrus_Mare

A dash of red wine, worcester sauce and a bit of sugar help the flavour.

lil_me

I always add a litte sugar, takes the bite out of the tomatoes. It is a case of finding what suits you when it comes to more garlic, herbs etc. Like garlic for example, I add probably 5 cloves ish to a one for 2 people as we like it garlicy. Makes my Dad laugh as before kids I couldn't stand garlic in anything. I always brown the mince first to get the fat off.

To experiment for the next time, what I did was make the sauce seperate and keep taste testing, add something, cook for a few mins and try again. I am another who always bought jars but didn't want to waste mince if it went wrong.

I also use half passatta and half tinned tomatoes aswell.

As a rough guide without the extra veg I try to sneak in I tend to use, 1 carton passatta, 1 tin tomatoes, at least 5 cloves garlic finely chopped, mushrooms, 2 level tablespoons italian seasoning (or fresh herbs if I have them) one onion, teaspoon sugar, pinch of salt, tin of or good half a tube of tomato puree.

Personally never tried a stock cube but many seem to recommend it.

BargainJunky

Before my little boy was born I was a jar user. Now I brown the mince (removing the fat/liquid), throw in mushrooms, onions, peppers, tinned tomatoes, stock cube and water, lots of oregano, sometimes worcester sauce and leave to cook for ages on the hob. The longer it cooks the better it is. After my little boy has had his removed I put loads of black pepper in and some tabasco to give it a kick and cook for a little while longer. I then remove half to eat for tea or freeze and turn the rest into chilli by adding some chilli powder (dont like red kidney beans). Two meals in one!

Good luck and can I come for tea!

heavenleigh

Thank you all for your advice,
The kids have eaten it as is with no complaints.
I think i am just going to have to eat this one as is, as i have no red wine or worcester sauce to hand.
I think it may take a weeks supply of parmesan to make it tasty though!
I will deffinately keep all advice to hand as i am adiment i will make from scratch and not use sauces again.

Bargain i also dont like kidney beans, do you think baked beans will work as well?
Lili-me 5 cloves? bloody hell, no need to worry about dracula trying to pop in for dinner!
Thrift i have already added salt and pepper, hubby has watched too much jamie oliver and got a bit carried away with the seasoning but it still didnt make it taste any better!

Leigh xx

custardy

how long have you cooked it out for? tomatoes are best wheen cooked out for a good length of time

Topher

I fry off the onions then remove them from the pan then fry the mince in the same pan. If its poorer quality a lot of fat comes off, which I throw away, better quality has less fat run-off. Whenever I use tomato puree, I also add an edge of a teaspoon of sugar to take the "tinny" taste off. I use tinned chopped tomatoes, and grate some carrot into the mix. I then add half a bottle of cheap plonk (red dryish) or any leftover wine that I froze. and simmer the lot down with some Italian herbs in. (not too much as it can become bittter) If it needs some more depth of flavour I add either Tomato ketchup or Brown sauce... again not too much so that the vinegar flavour doesn't dominate or even get detected. If it needs more liquid during the simmer down, I add beef stock.
Keep going, its a good basic sauce for so many dishes.
T

jovichick123

I put peppers and mushrooms in mine, don't know if that makes a difference? Also, I always find if I cook it for longer, it tastes better? lol don't know how that works, spag bol always tastes nicer next day to me!

Sarah xx

nikflo

i add a teaspoon of marmite to my sauce, i made i spag bol today, but will freeze it and we will have it on thursday night.