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!