My poor old mother - she was a terrible cook. Worse than me.
But there was one dish that she excelled in and that was Spaghetti Bolognese. Back in those days there was no parmesan cheese in Turkey, so my father who travelled to Italy very frequently on business would bring it back. Big wedges of it, like a kilo or more, which she would cut into smaller parts and put in the freezer and then take out and crush in a blender. But she really was an ace with the sauce and everything. So, I have very fond memories surrounding Bolognese.
In the Jamie Oliver recipe below, he uses bacon. Could be good, the kind we had was just ground beef. Again, below there is Rosemary in the ingredients list - my mother used Basil, and quite frankly I might substitute the Rosemary with Basil. Rosemary is quite intense. But then, who do you trust - Jamie Oliver or me? OK - let's meet in the middle: How about Oregano? I seem to remember my mother using that too when there was no Basil at hand.
INGREDIENTS
| - 2 cloves of garlic
- 1 onion
- 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary
- 6 rashers streaky bacon
- olive oil
- 500 g minced beef
| | - 200 ml red wine
- 1 x 280 g jar of sun-dried tomatoes
- 2 x 400 g tins of plum tomatoes
- 500 g dried spaghetti
- Parmesan cheese
- extra virgin olive oil
|
INSTRUCTIONS
- 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 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.
Shamelessly filched from:
Thank you Jamie Oliver! :-)
Images: Unsplash and Freepik.
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