Spaghetti Bolognese

[Janetta]

Does anyone have a quick and easy but tasty recipe for bolognese sauce. I don't want to use any ready mixes or stock cubes - too many artificial flavourings and additives.

[Sequin]

2 cloves of garlic, large onion, minced beef, oregano or mixed herbs, tin of tomatos, worcester sauce

Fry the onions & garlick until soft in a little olive or veg oil, add the meat and brown it off for a few minutes. Drain off some of the fat to make it a bit healthier, then add the tin of tomatoes - chop them roughly, or get ready chopped, and sprinkle in a good handful of herbs (dried will do, but fresh is better - finely chopped) - put in a glug of worcester sauce to give it a bit of a kick, then bring to the boil, cover and leave it to simmer for as long as you can, checking it from time to time to make sure it doesn't dry out. Thicken if necessary with tomato puree or cornflour

[ursula62]

1 small onion, chopped finely
1 stick celery, chopped finely,
1 small carrot, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
250g minced beef
1 large can tomatoes
2 tbsps tomato puree
1 bay leaf
1 tsp dried oregano (if using fresh use double amount)
1/2 tsp parsley.
1/2 glass red wine (optional).

In a deep saucepan, fry the onion, carrot and celery in a little olive oil until softened but not brown. Add the garlic and fry for a few minutes more. Add the mince and fry until the mince is browned, stirring constantly to break up any lumps. Add the rest of the ingredients, cover the pan,  bring to the boil and simmer for at least 20 minutes stirring occasionally.

Who needs jars of sauce or packets of additives?

[silly moo]

Sequins recipe is similar to mine.
Add oxo cubes , pesto , red wine.

[natalie_1982]

I also make mine just like Sequin's except I cook the beef first, then add onion, garlic and chopped mushrooms and a slosh of red wine too.

[portabubble]

Carrots??

[MORELLO]

Celery?

[ursula62]

onion, carrots and celery are often used in Italian sauces. Together they are known as "Il Trittico".  Not only do they add flavour, they also allo you to bulk out the sauce and use less meat. If you chop them finely enough, even seasoned vegetable haters won't know they're there.

Besides, ragu bolognese doesn't exist in proper Italian cooking, so there is no one "authentic" recipe!

[mfewell]

Janetta, try this - though I say it myself it is the tops.

Chop 2 large onions quite finely. Brown in sunflower oil, adding loads of garlic (I use Lazy Garlic from a jar - no sticky fingers), and a little red wine which gets absorbed by the onions.  Add about 800g of lean steak mince and cook through. Make sure you break up any lumps of mince. S bol with lumpy mince is horrible.  Add 1-2 tins of chopped tomatoes and a 310g jar of tomato puree. You can use more red wine to rinse out the remains of the puree from the jar.  Now for the fun bit, the seasoning.  Use plenty of basil and oregano, to taste, also plenty of black pepper. For largely sentimental reasons I also add onion and garlic salt. Now, one of the keys to this gorgeous dish, add a largish pinch each of ground cloves (laving powder) and ground cinammon. You'll get vivid dreams but it's worth it.  Add red wine at all stages liberally. I use an entire bottle - none for the chef, who sticks to Budweiser. Towards the end add exactly 12 mushrooms, very finely chopped. Simmer for a while, tasting and adjusting seasoning.

If you use the quantities I do, you will have a huge pot of S bol, enough to feed a small army, but it freezes beautifully and the flavour is enhanced by freezing (as with most curries too).

Serving is important too. None of the Italian restaurant dishes where you get spaghetti barely covered with sauce. To serve this you need a big handful of spaghetti and at least 2 large ladles of sauce per person. They'll never finish it, but they'll be full and content.

Have fun.  It's best cooked on a sunny Saturday afternoon, Budweiser for the chef, and the radio on.