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Making a spaghetti bolognese for the family. Any recommendations for the sauce?
- Thread starter Dusterbob
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I've used Grossman's in the past and really liked them, but I'm looking to change it up a bit.
3 tbsp sundried tomatoes purée
400g can chopped tomatoes
glass red wine
1 tsp dried mixed herbs
1 clove of garlic
Handful of chopped mushrooms.
1 small white onion
In a pan put a splash of oil and add the chopped onion till caramelised add the garlic (chop or crush) then the mince. Cook till the mince is browned off.
Next add the mushrooms, can tomatoes & purée, bring back up to a medium heat then add the herbs and wine.
Cover reduce the heat low:medium and cook for 20 minutes or so. Stirling every 5. Add salt and taste.
How long do you wish to spend preparing this dish? If using a tinned sauce, use a really good one. If using tinned tomatoes, they will really benefit from at least an hour's gentle simmer.
To get the very best from mince, a cooking time of around two to three hours is recommended; basically, it tastes a lot better with a few hours of long, slow, cooking.
Personally, with this dish, I sauté onions (diced finely), carrots and celery, and add several (not just one) cloves of garlic. These days, I will roast a dish or two of tomatoes (drizzled in olive oil) as well, to serve as a base for the dish, which I add to the onion, garlic, celery, carrot mix.
Salt, black pepper, and a small soupçon of sugar can be added, too. Maybe a glass of wine, added to the stock. Occasionally, diced pancetta. Some will add a small amount of cream after a few hours gentle simmer.
To get the very best from mince, a cooking time of around two to three hours is recommended; basically, it tastes a lot better with a few hours of long, slow, cooking.
Personally, with this dish, I sauté onions (diced finely), carrots and celery, and add several (not just one) cloves of garlic. These days, I will roast a dish or two of tomatoes (drizzled in olive oil) as well, to serve as a base for the dish, which I add to the onion, garlic, celery, carrot mix.
Salt, black pepper, and a small soupçon of sugar can be added, too. Maybe a glass of wine, added to the stock. Occasionally, diced pancetta. Some will add a small amount of cream after a few hours gentle simmer.
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Wasn't in the ingredients I forgot but it was in the instructions lolDoesn't Bolognese have meat in it?
100% agree on times. Extras are optional. My version is kiddie safe and approved by them.
Doesn't Bolognese have meat in it?
Yes, I had wondered about this.
To the OP: Preferably hours and hours of slow, gentle, cooking, the sort of cooking that is described as a gentle burping, an occasional plop, even marginally less than a simmer, works best. My ideal is about eight hours for the sauce.
Now, to be quite honest, as I am from the British Isles, and not from Italy, I have never managed eight hours, but I have come close to five (cooking, preceded by an hour's preparation) and - trust me - it is well worth it.
And - believe me - this is a dish that tastes ten times better the following day.
I used to batch make and freeze ragu sauce. Same as above less the meat and slow cooked for 8-10 hours. Extra garlic and onion as they get lost after freezing. Then you just take it out and put with mince meat. Bingo quick meals
Exactly.
Extra garlic and onions. Which is how I always make it. (Several onions, and almost - if not - a head - of garlic).
I'll get to the 8-10 hours ideal (bought a new cooker oven - a Rangemaster - last week and am looking forward to stretching it and testing it) eventually. For now, I a happy that I know I can manage four to five hours simmering.
This is the sort of sauce that just gets better the longer it is cooked. So, to be honest, I would never cook mince for a mere twenty minutes. Minimum of two to three hors to get some sort of decent flavour from it.
If you want a shorter time for cooking the spaghetti sauce, try sliced/diced chorizo sausage - sliced - and pancetta ham, with the ragu sauce, instead of mince. This'll give you an excellent flavour (mind you, it'll be still better after an hour).
Interesting thread. Pasta is my favourite and I love cooking, just don't have the time to cook. For my speedy pasta, canned tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic, onions, bell peppers and ground beef.
We should have a recipe thread.
We should have a recipe thread.
A recipe thread?
What an excellent idea, @heehee - thanks for suggesting it.
Perhaps with a sort of wiki first post, as the espresso thread already has.