Bolognese sauce - it's not just for spaghetti you know! (Beef Recipes)

Member Name: Suzela

Product:	Beef Recipes
Date:	24/08/09 (82 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Delicious family favourite

Disadvantages: Can't think of any

One of the scariest things I have ever done in my life was to cook for the Italian grandmother of an ex boyfriend. I think it was a test of how well I could look after her beloved grandson and I had no idea what to cook. But the decision of what to cook was made for me - she wanted spaghetti bolognese. I was devastated. How could I make this for a genuine Italian?

So I did my beef, onions, tomatoes, garlic and basil sauce - which in fairness she ate and said was pleasant - and the next day I had a phonecall from her to thank me for my hospitality and to give me her mother's recipe. I guess I could have been offended but this was the first of many recipes that she gave me to make sure that I fed her grandson properly (and because she said she liked me - seemingly! Shame I kicked her grandson into touch a few months later). It was also his grandmother who taught me the trick of putting the garlic in at the end of the cooking rather than at the beginning because you need less but it tastes really fresh and there is no danger of burning it.

Anyway I digress!

I have to admit that over the years I have adapted the recipe a bit - added a few extra ingredients which probably will offend the Italian's among us but we love it now.

Grandma's original

Minced beef - I use 500g of extra lean beef
Good olive oil - 4 tablespoons (I don't use this much now)
Half a pint of water
Half a pint of milk
2 shallots or small onions
large carrot diced
stick of celery chopped and diced
tin of whole plum tomatoes
2 bay leaves
handful of torn basil
Salt & plenty of black pepper.

Method:

1. Heat a large pan and add the oil.
2. Add the carrot and celery and bay leaves and sautee until they begin to soften.
3. Add the shallots / onions and sautee until they begin to soften but not brown.
4. Remove the vegetables from the pan and add the mince. Fry until brown and separated - there should be no large lumps of mince.
Add the vegetables back into the pan with the mince and add the tomatoes together with the water and milk
5. Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until the vegetables are soft but still have bite.
6. Add the crushed garlic 10 minutes before the end and add torn basil leaves right at the end. Add salt to taste and plenty of black pepper.

Serve with any pasta. You don't just have to reserve this bolognese for spaghetti. I use this with all sorts of pasta including canneloni and lasagne. It's also quite lovely with mashed potato or rice.

Now for my adaptation which is now a firm family favourite. Essentially it follows the same ingredients and method as the above recipe but I add the following and I don't use as much oil or salt:
Celery leaves
Worcestershire sauce
Glass of Good red wine
2 teaspoons vegetable bouillon
2 teaspoons of gravy granules
flat leaf parsley

Method:

1. Heat a large pan and add one tablespoon of oil.
2. Add the carrot and celery, bay leaves and vegetable bouillon and sautee until they begin to soften.
3. Add the shallots / onions and celery leaves (these can be found mainly on the inside of any head of celery sticks on the younger stems) sautee until they begin to soften but not brown.
4. Remove the vegetables from the pan and add the mince. Fry until brown and separated - there should be no large lumps of mince.
5. Add the vegetables back into the pan with the mince and then add the red wine and the worcestershire sauce. Reduce this liquid down by a third and then add the tomatoes together with the water and milk
Simmer for 30 to 40 minutes until the vegetables are soft but still have bite.
6. Add the crushed garlic 10 minutes before the end and add the gravy granules.
7. Add the torn basil leaves and chopped flat leaf parsley right at the end.
8. Add plenty of black pepper.

Again this is great with all manner of pasta dishes and is a much denser, richer dish to the more authentic one. I would say that I tend to do this dish in the autumn / winter months but I do the original version more in the summer as it is lighter. The original is still delicious and always impresses but so does my version so you can't miss whichever version you do.

I hope you enjoy!

Summary: Yummy!