*Bolognese sauce? (merged thread)

[pinkychukkles]

Variations on bolognese sauce?

Recipe from allrecipes.com here

I've used this recipe quite a few times now, but everyone usually has their own unique twist on the sauce, so please post your own takes on how you like to make a bolognese sauce.

I always double up the ingredients and freeze a load for when I can't be arsed to cook.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons [30ml] olive oil
4 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 large onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced (I usually add more since I love garlic)
1 pound [455g] lean ground beef
1/2 pound [225g] ground pork
1/2 pound [225g] fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 carrots, shredded
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 (28 ounce) [800g] can Italian plum tomatoes
6 ounces [170g] tomato sauce
1/2 cup [120ml] dry white wine
1/2 cup [120ml] chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste
+ the pasta for how many you are making it for.

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, warm oil over medium heat and saute bacon, onion and garlic until bacon is browned and crisp; set aside.
2. In large saucepan, brown beef and pork. Drain off excess fat. Stir in bacon mixture, mushrooms, carrots, celery, tomatoes, tomato sauce, wine, stock, basil, oregano, salt and pepper to saucepan. Cover, reduce heat and simmer one hour, stirring occasionally.
3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
4. Serve sauce over hot pasta.

Does anyone get all enthusiastic and add all sorts of other sauces, Worcester, tabasco etc?

 

[Juice Terry]

White wine - urrgaaaaahhhhh! Youv'e gotta be kidding it has to be RED

I use Quorn mince and always add a bit of soy sauce for flavour.

And a chopped chilli.

And as for celery........... (the stalk of the devil)

 

[feyr]

red wine instead of white, a bit of tabasco sauce if i have any, otherwise some piri piri oil, a handfull of sun dried tomatos and a big spoon of their tomato oil. serve with pasta, or stir a spoon of yogurt or cream into a portion and have with a baked potato. yummy

 

[Funky_monks]

My Bolognese:

2 Onions, both very finley chopped
About half a bulb of garlic (at least 4 or 5 cloves)
Steak mince
Tinned toms (1 can, finley chopped)
Tomato puree (the best part of a tube)
Beef stock (either that concentrated boullion or a cube)
Lots of thyme
Lots of marjoram/oregano
A good handful of basil
A good glug of olive oil
Parsley (if I have any)
Red wine (if I have any)
Pepper
Worcestershire sauce

Brown the mince and sweat the onions in olive oil. Add the garlic and stir it around (only for a minute or so) then add the tomatoes, stock, puree, Worcestershire sauce and wine (if available). Add plenty of pepper, the marjoram/oregano and the thyme (either tied in a bunch or finley chopped) and about half the basil. Leave to simmer slowly with the lid off for at least 3 hours (or if you are out, this can be done in a slow-cooker, which may require the lid to be on, in which case, reduce it before you serve it). By now the sauce should be nice and thick. Cook your pasta, and about 2 minutes before it comes out, stir the remainder of the basil/parsley into the sauce. Serve with cheese (preferably parmesan).
This tastes better if cooked the night before and heated up/parsley and basil added the next day.

 

[fractionMan]

Yeah, beef not pork. Red not white.

And chillies, cos everything should have chillies in it. Bit of smoked bacon goes down well, ditto celery. And never, ever, ever use tomato puree.

 

[pinkychukkles]

sorry, late coming back to this thread.

Yes it does seem strange to have white wine with red meat. Still, it's been a pretty tasty recipe for me...but I don't mind doing tweaks to make it better
Sluuuuuurrrp!

I will be taking note of the above suggestions and cooking up a new batch pretty soooooon.

 

[pk]

The Quest for the Perfect Spag Bol

This is my story.

I began with a frying pan, not a pot, this dissipates heat better, I fried some Spanish olive oil with garlic and added chopped onion, softened them and then added mince, frozen.

I usually add a thinly sliced garlic clove to the initial oil but didn't.

Then I added one large chopped green pepper.

Stirred it.

Put garlic bread in the oven.

Then added 3 chopped medium mushrooms, regular type.

Stirred it.

Then 3 rashers of bacon, seperated and chopped then pre-heated to hell in a microwave were stirred in, alongside two regular pieces of Galaxy chocolate.

Stirred well, got the meat cooked, then added one tin of plum tomatoes and mashed them in the mix.

Added half a 375g jar of Salsa dipping sauce, the Doritos hot version.

Then added a glass of Ruby Cabernet.

Stirred it.

Added Schwartz mixed herbs. Let it all stew under a lid on a low heat for about 20 minutes.

Launched the 3 minute spaghetti and took the garlic bread out of the oven to cool.

Served with wine and a DVD.

It was the business. Somehow the pork and salsa fused to make the beef and sauce taste really oakey, like oak smoked.

It was unreal. You must try this version of spag bol. The half a Doritos Hot dip jar is an essential ingredient though.

What would you have done differently?

 

[Loki]

probably a lot more garlic than you, and more shrooms. And tinned tomatoes and tomatoe puree rather than a "jar of Salsa dipping sauce". Oh and a smattering of salt and quite a few twists of freshly ground pepper. But sure it was lovely anyway.

 

[Dirty Martini]

I would have put the garlic in later, after the onions or even with the tomatoes (after crushing them with a bit of salt and olive oil and leaving them to stand) -- I always burn garlic. Tinned toms, not salsa. Depending on the quality of the mince, I probably would have flash-fried it separately first and drained off any excess fat, then re-added it later. And Italian olive oil rather than Spanish, I reckon, cos that's what I have in the kitchen and is the best for frying. But I'm a finickity bastard who probably would have taken three times as long -- and can't do more than one thing at a time, so the garlic bread would have gone in while the spag bol was going cold on the plate

 

[Karma]

I would of used red pepper instead of green and I would of removed any hint of meat whatsoever (I'm a veggie). Definately would of used a can of toms instead of the salsa stuff.

 

[ChrisFilter]

spot on with the salsa pk.. mmmmmmmm

 

[pk]

I did put a jar of tinned tomato in aswell.

damn, i'll edit the top.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

For a really perfect sauce you can't beat using fresh tomatoes. Remove the seeds and chop. It makes a noticeable difference.

A little tomato puree can be useful as well, depends on the consistency. Sometimes puree means also needing to use a pinch of sugar too.

I'm picky about the herbs, I like to add individual ones based on preference. Mostly oregano, but if I'm in the mood I put more basil in. Fresh is better but in a sauce it doesn't make all that much difference tbh.

 

[ernestolynch]

browned mince

sweated onion and garlic

sugar

tomatoes

seasoning and oregano

torn fresh basil leaves

pasta al dente

parmeggiano shaved and sprinkled

simplissimo

 

[Stobart Stopper]

NO!!!!!!!!!

It's like this:

1lb of lean beef mince
1lb pork mince
1 pack of pancetta or chopped bacon
2 cans of chopped tomatoes
1 tube tomato puree
half a pint of red wine
loads of basil
2 onions.

garlic,optional.

cook it all up like this:

cook the meat first, then remove, cook the onions and pancetta then return meat to the dish add tomatoes, puree, red wine and basil then cook on lowest heat for 4 hours.

 

[Loki]

A little tomato puree can be useful as well, depends on the consistency. Sometimes puree means also needing to use a pinch of sugar too.

True. In fact instead of sugar I often add ketchup as a sweetener

Ketchup just goes so well with spag boll!

 

[Ace]

is an essential ingredient though.

What would you have done differently?

The wine. A really full blooded Italian red.

Very easy on the herbs - they can kill the flavour. Fresh obviously. Dried mixed is a bit lazy.

Grate the Parmeggiano straight from the block.

And cut the garlic, like Frankie Pentangeli, with a razor blade.

 

[Dirty Martini]

And cut the garlic, like Frankie Pentangeli, with a razor blade.

"... so that it liquifies in da pan..."

 

[oi2002]

Classic Hazan Recipe

It's traditionally served in small quantities on tagiatelle or penne rather than spaghetti. You need fatty well flavoued meat. I'd use 50% pork, and cook it overnight in a slow oven.

 

[Idris2002]

What's wrong with tomato puree? (genuine question)

 

[Orang Utan]

Wine is essential - I always throw in a couple of glasses.
You should also cook it on the lowest heat possible for as long as you have time for - an hour or two.
I use quite a lot of passata or tomato puree as well.
I hate celery normally but I often stick in some very finely chopped/sliced celery.
You should never ever put carrots in.
Fresh oregano and basil is a luxury but a good idea - at the very least it should have plenty of dried oregano.
Organic beef of course too.

 

[Dirty Martini]

You should never ever put carrots in.

Yer Italian would

 

[pinkychukkles]

I'll be trying one of these variations today....

will report back with my palatable findings.

 

[wayward bob]

whenever i screw up bolognese it's cos i put too much meat in - should be a veg sauce with a bit of meat in my book.

everything should be chopped tiny, same kind of texture as the mince.

must have celery and carrot, they combine with the onion to make the main body of the sauce and they give sweetness. i hate cooked celery on its own but in any long-cooked dish like bol they just add to the savouriness - can't pick out the individual flavour.

mushies totally non-standard, but good if you need to stretch it further, plus i love mushies in anything, but they change the texture so it's not quite right. no peppers.

garlic essential. tomato puree fine by me (only a couple of tbsp otherwise it overwhelms). wine optional

long cooking essential - takes about 1/2 hour to get everything sweated and browned, then at least an hour on a gentle bubble, 2 even better.

basil got no place in bol. and have it with pasta that can hold the sauce, not spag - it just slides off.

 

[Ms T]

Really authentic ragu bolognese is cooked in milk for a very long time, according to the Italian version of Delia Smith, Marcella Hazan. I tried it once, and 'twas nice, but to be honest I prefer the Delia version with smoked bacon and chicken livers. I always put mushrooms in as well, because Hendo loves them.

 

[Jangla]

a teaspoon of cumin seeds and some chopped rosemary, pounded in a pestle and mortar is my latest tip for bol seasoning...with all the rest of the basil, marjoram etc.

 

[Jenerys]

I do like to add a bit of carrot, fresh rosemary and chillis

I also like a bit of mashed up avocado on the side - yum

 

[lang rabbie]

Really authentic ragu bolognese is cooked in milk for a very long time, according to the Italian version of Delia Smith, Marcella Hazan. I tried it once, and 'twas nice, but to be honest I prefer the Delia version with smoked bacon and chicken livers.

Spent four hours of a wet Saturday a few weeks ago minding a vast pot of the stuff made to Marcella Hazan's recipe, with slow braising of the mixed mince in milk followed by simmering in white wine. It was really good, but I have to agree with Ms T that Delia's chicken liver version gives pretty much of the same piquancy for much less effort.

(Resist the temptation to throw in a whole tub of frozen chicken livers. Use them sparingly in the ragu and fry the rest in butter for a treat spread on toast)

 

[guinnessdrinker]

And cut the garlic, like Frankie Pentangeli, with a razor blade.

I'd crush the garlic with the back if my opinel knife (the best in the world) before cutting it, then throw it in the hot oil immediately.

 

[belboid]

but if you crush it you're meant to leave it fifteen minutes first, for some reason i've never been able to fathom.