Do you have a 'go to' dish that you knock up when feathers are ruffled, when you want a little comfort or to be soothed from the inside? I have. It's Spaghetti Bolognese. (Some people spell it 'Bolognaise'). I must have made Spag Bol a thousand times over the years. The beauty of it is that I don't really have a recipe for it, it was something that I watched one of my mothers friends make about 30 years ago, and I stood, totally transfixed as she chopped and stirred. It tends to come out slightly differently every time which is fabulous.
What I tend to do is get about 500-750g of minced beef, the best quality that I can find, butchers is best, if not get some from the butchers counter of a good supermarket. I peel and finely chop an onion, or two depending on how big the onions are, and how lazy I am feeling. This goes in a large based pan with some olive oil, about a tablespoonful I guess, I never measure it, simply splash a little into the pan until it looks about right.
This goes over a medium heat, and the onions are added. If I have a leek that needs using it, I might peel, finely slice and rinse this and add it to the onions. I add a couple of peeled, crushed garlic cloves, and stir it all until the onions have started to go golden brown. If they look like they are going very brown or black the pan is too high and needs turning down a bit. You might need to remove the pan from the heat for a couple of minutes to let everything cool down.
If you have mushrooms to hand you could wipe and slice some of these, and add them to the onion mix. Once everything is looking nice and golden ish you can add the mince. The idea is to get rid of any signs of pink and simply brown the meat. This seals in the flavour and stops it drying out. Once the meat is brown, add a large tin of chopped tomatoes, a glass of wine (whatever colour you have to hand, it doesn't really make much difference) Pour yourself a large glass whilst you're there if you want (and if you're not on any medication that contraindicates this and you're over 18! ) *Cheers*
Add a sprinkling of herbs (Italian herbs are a great idea because you don't have to buy lots of individual pots of herbs) If you use fresh herbs, use more. If you use dried herbs use less, and if you're going to put your bolognaise into the slow cooker, use sparingly as the slow cooker locks in the flavour. If you have a stock cube (beef preferably although vegetable will do) you can add this now too. Add a little boiling water if you think you need it. If it is looking a little bit watery, you can stir in a sprinkling of gravy granules (stop it! I am allowed to do this, it saves so much faffing about!)
At this point you can either leave it bubbling over a low heat for about 15- 20 mins, more if you have time or you can transfer it into the slow cooker and leave it bubbling on low for the rest of the day. If time is not on your side you can leave it on high for a couple of hours or so. As long as it's cooked through it will be fine.
Just before you need it, In a separate pan put plenty of boiling water, a little salt and some dried or fresh spaghetti. I tend to snap it in half, because I am far too lazy to bother to try to bend it in the pan. Dried spaghetti takes about 5-15 minutes depending what it says on the pack (read it carefully and do what it says!) Fresh spaghetti tends to be quicker, so again do what it says on the pack.
Drain the pasta well, spoon over the bolognaise sauce and serve with lashings of garlic bread, some freshly ground black pepper, a green salad and some grated parmesan.
If you find that you have too much mince, don't panic. Simply cool, pop into a bowl and refrigerate overnight or put it in a freezer bag and pop it in the freezer. When you want to use it you can defrost it, and add a tin of tomatoes, and/ or a jar of red pesto, and if you like a little chilli. This can be served with rice or pasta or stirred into cooked pasta with a sprinkling of cheese chucked on the top and then popped in the oven to make a tasty pasta bake. It can also be used as a basis for lasagne (by adding the tin of tomatoes). Yum. I tend to intentionally make too much of any mince beef recipe and have a bag or two in the freezer for those emergency moments when you really haven't energy to conjure up something new, yet want to feed the family something hot and tasty and filling.
To make Garlic Bread:
If you fancy making your own garlic bread, simply get a french stick, a pack of butter, some parsley (dried will do) and 2-3 cloves of garlic (to taste) When I was a student we had this thing, It's not how many cloves of garlic you use that count's its how many days later you can still taste the garlic!
We used to simply crush the garlic, soften the butter and mix together with a little dried parsley. How you prefer your garlic bread to be determines whether you cut individual slices and butter the slices with your garlic butter, or whether you prefer to slice into your baguette, not quite slicing all the way through it, and then wrap loosely in tin foil before popping into a hottish oven for 10-15 minutes. Keep an eye on it ,because everyone's oven cooks at different rates, so it might take more time or less time in your oven.
Ps. In our house, the person who cooks gets out of washing up, which is why I became a really good cook because I HATE WASHING UP!
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