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Spaghetti bolognese

Cook Time:

4 hours

Serves:

8 people

About the Recipe

Let’s face it – no matter how you cook spag Bol, you’ll piss someone off. If you add the chopped tomatoes – the Italians will sanction you. If you don’t, the Americans will tell you that the REAL Bolognese (which originates from Little Italy, Manhattan, obviously) has a whoooole bunch right in there. So, just make it the way YOU like…

P.S. – yes, I know there’s “supposed” to be red wine in there. If you can’t make do without it, add it. Or, you know, just skip the whole meat-and-sauce thing and drink the bottle while snacking on dry spaghetti

Ingredients

  1. Spaghetti – 500g

  2. Pork mince – 250g

  3. Beef mince – 500g

  4. Tomato puree – 130g

  5. Onion – 200g

  6. Celery – 200g

  7. Carrots – 200g

  8. Single cream – 75g

  9. Chicken stock – 500ml

  10. Parmesan – 50g

  11. Garlic – 5 gloves

  12. Chili flakes – ½ tsp

  13. Paprika – 1 ½ tsp

  14. Ground black pepper – 1 ½

  15. Salt – 2 tsp

  16. Sugar – 2 ½ tsp

  17. Vegetable oil – 1 tsp

Method

  1. Finely dice the onions, carrots and celery to roughly the same size

  2. Finely chop or grate the garlic

  3. Place a large pan on high heat and add the vegetable oil

  4. Once the pan is hot, add the beef and pork mince. Break up the mince as best you can with a wooden or nylon spatula

  5. Fry at high heat until the mince becomes nice and golden brown

  6. Transfer the fried mince to a bowl, leaving the residual oil in the pan (if there is any)

  7. Place the pan on high heat again. Add a little oil if needed, before adding the onions, carrots, celery and garlic

    If the bottom of your pan is getting a bit too brown/black, add a dash of water to get it nice and clean again

  8. Add the sugar, salt, black pepper, paprika and chili flakes

  9. Fry the vegetables until they turn slightly golden and start getting soft (about 15 minutes)

  10. Add the tomato puree, cook for another 5 minutes

    Get a bigger pot if necessary. It needs to be large enough to contain the vegetables, meat and quite a bit of liquid

  11. Transfer the vegetables to your large pot. Add the mince and stock, mix well

  12. Bring your Bolognese to a boil, then turn the heat down to low and cover with a lid. Keep stirring every so often to make sure the bottom doesn’t burn.

    There seems to be a trend these days to cook your Bolognese for some absurd number of hours, with some mad men (and women) going all the way up to 8! Now I’ll be honest – the most I’ve tried is 4 and the difference between the taste of a Bolognese cooked for 2 and 4 hours is just too little to justify the extra effort and time, in my opinion

  13. At this point, I generally cook my Bolognese for anywhere from 1 to 2 hours, depending on my mood. I recommend starting off with an hour and then seeing how you feel. Keep in mind the longer you cook it, the softer the vegetables will become

  14. When you think your Bolognese is just about done, add the cream. Then, give it a taste and add any salt, sugar or pepper that you believe is necessary

  15. In a large pot cook your chosen type of pasta for however long it says on the packet (just don’t overcook it!)

  16. Grate your parmesan before serving


    Optionally, you can mix some pasta with the sauce in a pan before serving it with more Bolognese on top and some parmesan sprinkled over everything. That’s trendy now. Enjoy

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