Spaghetti Bolognese
Tickle your Italian tastebuds with this genuine ragù alla bolognese! It is a slowly cooked sauce and its preparation involves several techniques including sweating, sautéing, and braising, and smells amazing!
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil or rice bran oil, or rapeseed oil
- 4 rashers smoked streaky bacon finely chopped, or a pack of lardons
- 1 large onion finely chopped
- 2 carrots finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 2-3 sprigs rosemary leaves picked and finely chopped
- 2 cups/1 pound/500 gram ground beef pork, or turkey works just as well, as does Quorn mince or other vegetarian or vegan meat substitutes.
For The Bolognese Sauce
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 pack basil leaves picked, ¾ finely chopped, and the rest left whole for garnish
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 2 fresh bay leaves
- 2 tablespoon tomato purée
- 1 beef stock cube or 1cup beef broth don't have beef broth, chicken broth is good too
- 1 red chili pepper seeded and finely chopped (optional)
- ¼ cup 100ml red wine (I make my own red wine, so I might add more, it is so tasty!)
- 6 cherry tomatoes sliced in half
To Season And Serve
- ¾ cup 75gr Parmesan, grated, plus extra to serve
- 3 cup 400gr spaghetti uncooked (Well, it is hard to measure uncooked spaghetti, guesstimate for the number of servings 😉 No harm in leftovers.)
- crusty bread to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Put a large saucepan on medium heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the bacon/lardons and fry until golden and crisp.
- Reduce the heat and add the onion, carrot, celery, garlic and rosemary, then fry for 10 mins. Stir often until everything softens.
- Increase the heat to medium-high, add the mince and cook stirring for 3-4 mins until the meat is browned all over.
- Add the tinned tomatoes, chopped basil, oregano, bay leaves, tomato purée, stock cube, chili, wine, and cherry tomatoes. Stir well.
- Bring to a boil, reduce to a gentle simmer and cover with a lid on,. Cook for 1¼ hours stirring occasionally, until you have a rich, thick sauce. Add the Parmesan, check the seasoning, and stir occasionally.
- When the Bolognese is nearly finished cook the spaghetti following package instructions. Drain the spaghetti and stir into the Bolognese sauce. You can use some of the spaghetti water to let down (thin out) the sauce if it is too thick.
- Serve with grated Parmesan, the extra basil leaves, and crusty bread.
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