Extra special spaghetti bolognese (Rice & Pasta Dishes)

Member Name: Charliewhippet

Product:	Rice & Pasta Dishes
Date:	04/06/09 (209 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tastes yummy, smells gorgeous, makes you feel authentically Italian

Disadvantages: Takes quite a long time to cook

Lovely Spag bol! This recipe is pretty simple to make, but extra yummy (and a million times nicer than the stuff you get from a jar - and I'm a bit of a food philistine so I even quite like that....) It originally featured sun dried tomatoes (what is this, 1995?) but I always forget to buy them so I just use fresh.

It's supposed to serve four but we're quite greedy in my house so three of us can usually polish it off... leftovers are always welcome though...

Ingredients
2 tbsp olive oil
6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, chopped
2 large onions, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed
1kg lean minced beef
2 glasses of red wine
2x400g cans chopped tomatoes
About 10 large mushrooms, sliced
2 -3 fresh or dried bay leaves
1 tsp dried oregano or a small handful of fresh leaves, chopped
1 tsp dried thyme or a small handful of fresh leaves, chopped
drizzle balsamic vinegar
12-14 sun-dried (or fresh!) tomato halves, in oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
a good handful of fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

Spaghetti for four... anyone good at guessing the amount? I'm rubbish at that and always end up with way too much or two little. Need to practise I guess.

1. Heat the oil and fry the bacon until golden over a medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, frying until softened. Turn up the heat and add the minced beef. Fry it until it has browned, breaking down any chunks of meat with a wooden spoon. Pour in the wine and boil until it has reduced in volume by about a third. (It smells sooo good...) Reduce the temperature and stir in the tomatoes, mushrooms, bay leaves, oregano, thyme and balsamic vinegar.

Season well with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and simmer the Bolognese sauce over a gentle heat for 1-1½ hours until it's rich and thickened, stirring occasionally. At the end of the cooking time, stir in the basil and add any extra seasoning if necessary.

If you want to make it veggie, you can simply add lots of diced vegetables to the onions, such as courgettes, carrots, peppers and aubergines.

It's one of those dishes that is all the nicer for simmering for ages rather than being a quick meal. (It's worth it though.) And once you've opened the bottle of wine... well it would be rude not to finish it off, wouldn't it?

Summary: So much nicer than ready made crap :)