| Spaghetti Bolognaise Recipe | |||||||
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| Spaghetti Bolognaise Recipe |
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Although this spaghetti bolognaise recipe (aka spaghetti bolognese) has a few more ingredients than many of our recipes, you will find several of them already in your cupboard. Some may also be available from your garden, including tomatoes, basil, oregano, onions and garlic. You can mix and match what you have from the garden with packet or canned ingredients. |
KEY POINTS
| Preparation Time: | 20 mins | Cooking Time: | 30 minutes |
| How Difficult | Medium | Freeze? | Yes |
| Servings |
4 portions |
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INGREDIENTS
The ingredients below will make enough for a spaghetti bolognaise for four people.
When choosing the minced beef, go for the best. A low fat one from the
supermarket is very good, but even better buy it from your local butcher
if you have one left in your town.
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Ingredients |
Imperial | Metric |
| Minced beef |
3/4 pound (3/4 lb) |
1/2 kilo |
| 1 can peeled plum tomatoes or 10 peeled plum tomatoes (see recipe) |
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| 1 tablespoon of tomato concentrate | - | - |
| 1 large onion | - | - |
| 4 mushrooms (optional) diced small | - | - |
| 1 beef cube (e.g. OXO) | - | - |
| 1/4 teaspoon of grated garlic or 1 fresh garlic clove chopped up small | - | - |
| 1 teaspoon dried basil or 5 fresh chopped basil leaves | - | - |
| 1 teaspoon dried oregano or 5 fresh chopped oregano leaves | - | - |
| Olive oil | 2 tablespoons | 2 tablespoons |
| Spaghetti | 14 ounces (14 oz) | 400 grams |
| Salt and pepper to taste | - | - |
COOKING EQUIPMENT
1 Medium-sized frying pan
1 Medium-sized pan
Knife
Scales
Notes for the Cook!
In Italy, spaghetti is often eaten with a tomato sauce, but not so often
with minced beef included. So this recipe has lots of tomatoes for an
authentic taste but with minced beef as well.
The bolognaise sauce freezes well, in fact it probably tastes better when frozen for a bit - all the flavours mingle together better. So why not make a double portion and freeze what's left over.
Method
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Start by peeling the onion and chopping it into small bits. |
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| Put the onions into a frying pan, add two tablespoons
of olive oil and turn up to a medium heat.
Put the minced beef into a large pan (large enough to take all of the ingredients) and turn up to a medium heat. Cook them for about 8 minutes (see below). |
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The onions are ready when they have turned slightly
brown (see picture on the left). Turn the onions every minute or
so to make sure they are evenly browned
The minced beef is ready when it has all turned a greyish colour. Stir the minced beef every 30 seconds or so to make sure it is all cooked. When it is cooked, pour off any fat which is in the bottom of the pan. |
| Boil a small amount of water and dissolve the beef
cube in it. Add the mixture to the minced beef. Add the onions,
tomatoes, oregano, basil, garlic, chopped mushrooms and tomato
concentrate to the minced beef. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Mix all the ingredients well and simmer (barely bubbling) the glorious mixture for 30 minutes. Stir every five minutes or so to make sure it is all cooked evenly. Add a little hot water if the mixture starts to become dry. Following the instructions on the spaghetti pack, start cooking it so that it is finished cooking at roughly the same time as the bolognaise sauce. |
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Just before serving, taste the bolognaise sauce and add salt or
more herbs to get it tasting just right. Place the spaghetti on the plate, drizzle a teaspoon or two of olive oil over it and add the bolognaise sauce. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan Cheese and decorate with a sprig or two of parsley if any is available. |
| Bolognaise sauce is a really good for freezing - it
seems to encourage the flavours to mingle and mix.
So why not make a double sized portion and put the remainder in the freezer. It will keep for a month and you will always have a delicious meal that will only take the preparation time to cook the spaghetti. |
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