Monday, February 5, 2024

MONDAY MORNING RECIPE POST - SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE

Today I am trying a Jaimie Oliver Recipe for Spaghetti Bolognese.  You can find the original recipe at this link if you would like to take a look. The recipe can be found in his book, "Oliver's Twist".


Spaghetti Bolognese

Serves: 6

Calories: 618

Super easy to prepare

Prep to table approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes.

 

2 cloves of garlic

1 onion

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

6 rashers dry-cured higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon

olive oil

500 g minced beef  (ground beef to us and it works out to a little over 1 lb.)

200 ml red wine (almost 7 ounces in fl. ounces but I used 2 cup)

1 x 280 g jar of sun-dried tomatoes (almsot 10 ounces in our measurements)

2 x 400 g tins of plum tomatoes (works out to just over 10 ounces for 1 can of tomatoes)

500 g dried spaghetti (I used a 16 oz. box)

Parmesan cheese

extra virgin olive oil 


If you want the exact measurements you can find the conversion I used here, but what I used worked out great for us.


Preheat the oven to 180ºC/350ºF/gas 4.

Peel and finely chop the garlic and onions, pick and finely chop the rosemary, then finely slice the bacon.

Heat a splash of oil in a casserole pan on a medium heat, add the bacon, rosemary, garlic and onion and cook for 5 minutes, or until softened, stirring occasionally.

Add the minced/ground beef, breaking it apart with the back of a spoon, then cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until starting to brown, then pour in the wine. Leave to bubble and cook away.

Meanwhile, drain and tip the sun-dried tomatoes into a food processor, blitz to a paste, then add to the pan with the tomatoes. Stir well, break the plum tomatoes apart a little.

Cover with a lid then place in the oven for 1 hour, removing the lid and giving it a stir after 30 minutes – if it looks a little dry at this stage, add a splash of water to help it along.

About 10 minutes before the time is up, cook the spaghetti in boiling salted water according to the packet instructions.

Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain, reserving a mugful of cooking water, then return to the pan with a few spoons of Bolognese, a good grating of Parmesan and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Toss to coat the spaghetti, loosening with a splash of cooking water, if needed.

Divide the spaghetti between plates or bowls, add a good spoonful of Bolognese to each, then serve with a fine grating of Parmesan.


What did we think of this recipe?  It was great, very tasty! 

We used an 16oz. box of Angel Hair pasta, which has been our favorite for years. 

We added a small container of mushrooms the same time we added the sun-dried and plum tomatoes. They were sliced and sautéed a few minutes before preparation of the meal, but could be done much earlier and refrigerated if necessary.  

I have never seen bacon described as “rashers dry-cured higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon”. I'm sure there are equivalents over here and I will investigate next time I go to the supermarket. I used regular bacon instead.  Added note from Gregg: he said he would prefer it without the bacon. We will try that next time.

Fixed this with a simple mixed salad. It would go great with garlic bread or a plain crusty roll, but we found it more than enough without.  

We had leftovers for other meals, and the next day the flavor was even better.  

Thanks for the visit, enjoy your week 
and Bon Appétit!






35 comments:

  1. I love spaghetti, and this looks so good!!

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  2. This recipe is worthwhile to give it a try

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    1. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did Roentare :)

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  3. Hello Denise.
    It looks delicious and... hmmm... these photos make my mouth water!
    Good week.

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    1. Hello Cuco, wonderful! I'm so glad you thought so. You have a good week also :)

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  4. Looks delicious. I haven't had spaghetti in a really long time.

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    1. Thank you Ann :) we try to keep it down as much as we can but there are times....ha!ha!

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  5. One of my favorite meals, yum! Thanks for sharing! Take care, have a great day and happy new week!

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    1. That's great Eileen, and you are very welcome. I wish you the same :)

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  6. This is an interesting ingredient - 6 rashers dry-cured higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon - I haven't heard of higher-welfare bacon, must be a reference to the way the pigs are raised?

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    1. Hi Pamela :) after reading your comment, I added that we used regular bacon as I have never seen this description before in others that we have bought. As Jamie is British perhaps it is something our British friends might know.

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  7. This looks marvelous. Rick is Mr. Pasta so we'll have to try it out!

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    1. Rick should meet my Mr. Pasta, lol! Thanks Jeanie, I hope you like it :)

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  8. Spag Bol is a favourite meal in this house. It may be on the menu this week after your timely reminder. Thank you.
    Enjoyed seeing the birds that visit your garden and also the surprise fluffy visitor with big blue eyes.

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    1. Lovely and you are very welcome! Happy you enjoyed my other posts also, thanks for letting me know :)

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  9. One of my family's favorite dishes, Denise. Mr. Oliver's recipe looks simple and delicious. I like your addition of mushrooms and using angel hair pasta sounds good to me as well. Happy Monday to you!

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    1. That’s splendid Martha Ellen, and happy you like our choices. Thank you :)

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  10. Definitely was stumped on that description of bacon:) Not that I have much knowledge of bacon and bacon varieties....as a vegetarian. LOL But I would definitely leave that out and/or make some substitutions and this recipe sounds delish!! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. Me too, found the description very interesting :) This is the kind of recipe you can turn into a vegetarian or vegan dish. Thanks Jennifer!

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  11. I've seen that recipe before, it looks ok to me Denise, your meal looks good.

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  12. Angel Hair pasta is my fave, as well!!

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    1. Hello Kindred Spirit, I love Angel Hair pasta :)

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  13. Something with pasta is on a dinner menu sometime this week (or next) and this recipe would be a good first-time try for us. We also enjoy Jamie Oliver and have a couple of his recent cookbooks. And, many thanks for the birthday wishes, Denise & Gregg.

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    1. Hello Dorothy, you are very welcome. I know it was an excellent birthday :) This is the first time I have ever tried a Jamie Oliver recipe. We enjoyed it very much and I hope you will too.

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  14. I usually enjoy Jamie Oliver's recipe this looks good and I think I'm with Gregg on not needing to add the bacon.

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    1. Thanks Ellen, I have told Gregg what you said about the bacon :)

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