A dish for a rainy day, a rough evening, or a gathering of friends.
Everyone claims to make THE BEST bolognese.
Now, I don’t know what makes this bolognese “magic” but myself and my partner always seem to go to this when we are feeling rough and need a pick me up.
It’s great comfort food without being too unhealthy and is also very versatile as a base for other dishes such as lasagne or chilli con carne. Winner all round!
Also, I love garlic. Got garlic in the dish? I’ll most likely want more. I also add a little kick to this dish with a chilli, which is optional, but does leave you with that nice warm glow feeling. Mushrooms are another item I love adding to bolognese, but the other half isn’t that keen, screaming “FUNGUS” if I dare to try and put it in.
You can’t please everyone, but you CAN add whatever you like to make this dish your favourite.
This serves 5 to 6 people. You might have some room for garlic bread, depending on how hungry you are.
A dish for a rainy day, a rough evening, or a gathering of friends. Everyone claims to make THE BEST bolognese.
Ingredients
- Oil for cooking
- 500g beef mince
- 1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 peeled garlic cloves either chopped or ready for a press
- 200ml beef stock (or red wine)
- 1 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato puree
- 1tsp dried rosmary (or 2 springs of fresh)
- 1tsp mixed italian herbs
- Salt to taste (I use Good With Everything from Lakeland)
- 500g dried spaghetti
- Splash of tobasco sauce
- Splash of worchester sauce
- 1 red chilli
- 1 punnet of mushrooms (I prefer brown)
Instructions
- Choose a medium to large pot and pop on the hob at a medium to high temperature. I set it to 7 out of 9 on my electric hobs. (Insert StarTrek interest here)
- Add a splash of olive oil while it’s heating up. Then add the rosemary, garlic (either chopped or put through a press), onion and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft. (Add the chilli now, chopped up, for extra spice)
- Add the mince and break apart any lumps with a wooden spoon. Let it cook for a couple of minutes until starting to brown then pour in the beef stock.
- Let this bubble for a couple of minutes and then add the tinned tomatoes and the tomatoe puree.
- Add the Italian Herbs and any of your optional extras now.
- Cover the pot with a lid and allow to simmer on a lower temp for 30 mins, or an hour if you are not in a rush.
- Stir occasionally and add water if it starts sticking to the pot. The longer it cooks for, the more delicious it gets as the sauce thickens.
- About 10 mins to the end of your cooking time, cook your spaghetti/preferred pasta according to the packet instructions.
- Drain the pasta and add to the pot of bolognese.
- Give this a good mix to coat the pasta and serve!
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