How do I make the perfect Spaghetti Bolognese?!
I want to surprise my wife with a nice meal tonight, please don't laugh but I'm not that great in the kitchen!. Can you tell me everything that I need to know to prepare this meal!? what sort of tips can you give me to do so!? Would love to see her smile if I can pull this off!!
Thank you!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Thank you!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Answers:
I'm sorry that I was a bit late with this, but my recipes are designed for new bloke cooks (like I was once too) and to use simple ingredients!.
The perfect Bolognese sauce is a bit like the culinary Holy Grail, but this one is as close to an authentically simple Italian one as I can get it!.
BOLOGNESE SAUCE
Enough for spaghetti for 2
INGREDIENTS
2 cloves of garlic
2 onions
1 tablespoon of olive oil
500g of minced beef
400g tin of plum tomatoes*
1 beef stock cube
2 teaspoons of oregano or mixed herbs
Ground pepper to taste
METHOD
Peel the garlic and chop it into tiny pieces!. Peel the onions and chop them into tiny pieces!.
Put the oil into a frying pan on a medium heat!. Add the garlic and onion!. Fry the garlic and onion for about 2 minutes!. Stir frequently to stop it sticking!.
Put the meat into the pan and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring all the time!. By this time, it should have broken up and be an even colour, with no pink bits!.
Open the tin of tomatoes!. Pour the juice into the pan!. Chop the tomatoes while they are still in the can (it’s easier than chasing them around the pan)!.
Pour the chopped tomatoes into the pan!. Crumble the stock cube into the pan!. Add the herbs!. Season with the pepper!. Mix thoroughly!. Continue to cook, stirring as the mixture boils, until the sauce has reduced!.
ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES
Use minced lamb, pork or turkey instead of minced beef!. Add a glass of wine and cook for a bit longer!.
TIPS
* Plum tomatoes can be used either whole or chopped!. It is difficult to stick chopped tomatoes back together again if you need to use them whole!.
And, just in case you really are that not great in the kitchen, here's a recipe for pasta!
PASTA
Per Person
INGREDIENTS
At least 300ml of water
? of a teaspoon of salt
100g of pasta*
Ground pepper to taste
METHOD
Put the water and salt into a saucepan on a medium heat!. Bring to the boil!. Add the pasta!. Stir it to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan!. Bring back to the boil and continue to cook!. Stir frequently to stop it sticking!.
Begin testing it about 2 minutes before the packet instructions say it should be done!. The best way to judge if pasta is cooked is to bite it!. This is tricky, because if you fish out a bit and stick in your mouth you may burn your mouth on the boiling water!. Wait a bit and blow on it, then bite it!. If it is hard it needs longer!. If it is chewy (or ‘al dente’, Italian for ‘to the teeth’) it is ready!. If it is soft it is overcooked!.
Drain the pasta in a sieve or colander!. Season with the pepper!.
ADDITIONS & ALTERATIONS
Egg pasta (like tagliatelle) is usually served with dairy-based sauces!. Plain pasta is usually served with oil-based sauces!.
TIPS
If you use enough water, add the pasta when the water is boiling, stir the pasta frequently and don’t wander off (‘Gli spaghetti amano la compagnia’, or ‘spaghetti loves company’) and don’t overcook it, adding olive oil to the water to stop it sticking is totally unnecessary!.
Always ‘take the pasta to the sauce’!. Put the pasta in the pan with the sauce and stir together until thoroughly coated!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
The perfect Bolognese sauce is a bit like the culinary Holy Grail, but this one is as close to an authentically simple Italian one as I can get it!.
BOLOGNESE SAUCE
Enough for spaghetti for 2
INGREDIENTS
2 cloves of garlic
2 onions
1 tablespoon of olive oil
500g of minced beef
400g tin of plum tomatoes*
1 beef stock cube
2 teaspoons of oregano or mixed herbs
Ground pepper to taste
METHOD
Peel the garlic and chop it into tiny pieces!. Peel the onions and chop them into tiny pieces!.
Put the oil into a frying pan on a medium heat!. Add the garlic and onion!. Fry the garlic and onion for about 2 minutes!. Stir frequently to stop it sticking!.
Put the meat into the pan and fry for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring all the time!. By this time, it should have broken up and be an even colour, with no pink bits!.
Open the tin of tomatoes!. Pour the juice into the pan!. Chop the tomatoes while they are still in the can (it’s easier than chasing them around the pan)!.
Pour the chopped tomatoes into the pan!. Crumble the stock cube into the pan!. Add the herbs!. Season with the pepper!. Mix thoroughly!. Continue to cook, stirring as the mixture boils, until the sauce has reduced!.
ADDITIONS & ALTERNATIVES
Use minced lamb, pork or turkey instead of minced beef!. Add a glass of wine and cook for a bit longer!.
TIPS
* Plum tomatoes can be used either whole or chopped!. It is difficult to stick chopped tomatoes back together again if you need to use them whole!.
And, just in case you really are that not great in the kitchen, here's a recipe for pasta!
PASTA
Per Person
INGREDIENTS
At least 300ml of water
? of a teaspoon of salt
100g of pasta*
Ground pepper to taste
METHOD
Put the water and salt into a saucepan on a medium heat!. Bring to the boil!. Add the pasta!. Stir it to stop it sticking to the bottom of the pan!. Bring back to the boil and continue to cook!. Stir frequently to stop it sticking!.
Begin testing it about 2 minutes before the packet instructions say it should be done!. The best way to judge if pasta is cooked is to bite it!. This is tricky, because if you fish out a bit and stick in your mouth you may burn your mouth on the boiling water!. Wait a bit and blow on it, then bite it!. If it is hard it needs longer!. If it is chewy (or ‘al dente’, Italian for ‘to the teeth’) it is ready!. If it is soft it is overcooked!.
Drain the pasta in a sieve or colander!. Season with the pepper!.
ADDITIONS & ALTERATIONS
Egg pasta (like tagliatelle) is usually served with dairy-based sauces!. Plain pasta is usually served with oil-based sauces!.
TIPS
If you use enough water, add the pasta when the water is boiling, stir the pasta frequently and don’t wander off (‘Gli spaghetti amano la compagnia’, or ‘spaghetti loves company’) and don’t overcook it, adding olive oil to the water to stop it sticking is totally unnecessary!.
Always ‘take the pasta to the sauce’!. Put the pasta in the pan with the sauce and stir together until thoroughly coated!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
put some water in a pan and bring to the boiler and then add the long spaghetti in the pan !. get a pan add a little oil and add 1 chopped onion and 2 crushed garlic and some basil stir then add 1 tin of chopped tomatoes the stir and simmer then add 2 spoon fulls of Timoteo puree and salt and pepper simmer for 10 -15 min and keep stirring itWww@FoodAQ@Com
I brown the mince in a none stick pan for around 10 mins,drain the grease off!.then add large chunks of onion and halved mushrooms and a family sized jar of dolmio hot and spicy!.leave to cook around 15mins!.irresistable i could eat it every nightWww@FoodAQ@Com
Buy the Dolmio mix from the supermarket, add some tinned carrots and finely chopped onion and if you want it to have a bit of a kick, add in a couple of chopped up small chillies!.
Good luck & enjoy it!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Good luck & enjoy it!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Buy any spag boll mix you can get!.!.!.brown off mince!.!.!.brown 1 chopped onion!.!.!.add mushrooms if you want!.!.!.!.!.I add some garlic and fried bacon to give it extra flavour!.!.!.!.!.!.leave on a low heat to simmer for 20 mins( tiny bubbles rise to the surface!.!.!.NOT boiling)Www@FoodAQ@Com
Open a tin of heinz spag boll!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
For two you'll need one onion finely diced, a carrot peeled and diced fine and a rib of celery cut very fine!. Over medium heat with some olive oil cook the veggies until they soften add about a 1/2 lb!. of ground beef with half a cup of whole milk!. let the beef cook through!. it won't brown because of the moisture from the milk and veggies!. Add 1/2 a cup of white wine!. Simmer for a bit over medium low heat!. Then add your tomatos!. I like to use diced tometoes and tomato sauce!. Dried Italian herbs or just oregano and basil!. I love garlic so you can add that at any point, Very finely minced fresh garlic is best!. If you use garlic salt wait to add it until the very end as the sauce condenses as it cooks and it might be too salty !. Taste as you go along I often add a pinch of sugar too!. I cook this in a big pan in the oven when I'm making sauce for a crowd since I don't have to watch and stir it !. If you'd like to use the oven par cook your carrots first as they take overnight to soften!. Tomato sauce really likes to stick and scorch!. So be sure to keep the heat low and stir often if you are making it on a stove top!. also if at all possible use a stainless steel pan!. As aluminum gets into the sauce and has been linked with Alzheimer's disease!. Just lay a piece of aluminum foil on some tomato sauce and you'll see that it eats holes in the aluminum foil!. So you'd be eating dissolved aluminum!. Add salt and pepper to taste at the end of the cooking process!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
Dolmio is great as is Ragu (red wine)!.
The other way is roasting your tomatoes!. Line your roasting dish with foil & leave enough over the side of the tin to make a roomy packet!. On the vine tomatoes are good & you will need at least a 1lb, add some basil, maybe a touch of thyme (your choice, experiment is good) a few cloves of garlic, an onion or 2 halved, maybe even a courgette!? Don’t forget to season, what about a bit of chilli!? Splash on a decent olive oil (imo no extra virgin as it bitter when cooked & should be reserved for cold recipes/dressings)!. Wrap it all loosely in the foil packet & roast slowly for 30-40 mins (I use aga, but I guess it would be about 160/170)!. Remove & cool!. Once cooled remove any twig herbs (leaves are fine) you can peel the tomatoes if you wish & remove the seeds (personally I think it’s a waste & life’s to short)!. Liquidize the lot with a nice splosh of red wine & slowly add olive oil while the motor is running (I work on 1/3 oil to 2/3 tomato base)!. Check the seasoning & adjust as you think!. Don’t be to afraid of salt, it will improve the flavour unbelievably & it’s doubtful you will add any more than is in the ready made jars that are made to last a lifetime (well almost)!. The sauce is now ready to store & will keep in an airtight jar for a few days in the fridge no problem & improves in flavour!. It will separate but a good shake will sort that!
Put a large pan off water on to boil!. Fry the fat off the mince (I use steak mince) by placing the mince only (no oil) into a large warm frying pan over a medium heat, add a chopped onion & gently fry!. The meat will brown & the fat will gather in the pan!. Drain your mince & onion removing as much fat as will drain away (no need to be to fussy), add your sauce & leave to simmer gently while you do the pasta!.
I use linguine as I find it better than spaghetti, it’s a slightly chunkier version I guess!. Add salt to the now boiling water then add you pasta!. Some say give the pasta a twist, some say add oil to the water, both are meant to prevent the pasta sticking together!. I use loads of water in a large pan, so the pasta has plenty of room to move around, I also add a tbsp of oil & twist (best to be safe)!.
After about 8 to 12 mins (see packet) the pasta should be cooked & ready to drain & serve with your yummy sauce, ready made jar or lovely prepared sensation!.Www@FoodAQ@Com
The other way is roasting your tomatoes!. Line your roasting dish with foil & leave enough over the side of the tin to make a roomy packet!. On the vine tomatoes are good & you will need at least a 1lb, add some basil, maybe a touch of thyme (your choice, experiment is good) a few cloves of garlic, an onion or 2 halved, maybe even a courgette!? Don’t forget to season, what about a bit of chilli!? Splash on a decent olive oil (imo no extra virgin as it bitter when cooked & should be reserved for cold recipes/dressings)!. Wrap it all loosely in the foil packet & roast slowly for 30-40 mins (I use aga, but I guess it would be about 160/170)!. Remove & cool!. Once cooled remove any twig herbs (leaves are fine) you can peel the tomatoes if you wish & remove the seeds (personally I think it’s a waste & life’s to short)!. Liquidize the lot with a nice splosh of red wine & slowly add olive oil while the motor is running (I work on 1/3 oil to 2/3 tomato base)!. Check the seasoning & adjust as you think!. Don’t be to afraid of salt, it will improve the flavour unbelievably & it’s doubtful you will add any more than is in the ready made jars that are made to last a lifetime (well almost)!. The sauce is now ready to store & will keep in an airtight jar for a few days in the fridge no problem & improves in flavour!. It will separate but a good shake will sort that!
Put a large pan off water on to boil!. Fry the fat off the mince (I use steak mince) by placing the mince only (no oil) into a large warm frying pan over a medium heat, add a chopped onion & gently fry!. The meat will brown & the fat will gather in the pan!. Drain your mince & onion removing as much fat as will drain away (no need to be to fussy), add your sauce & leave to simmer gently while you do the pasta!.
I use linguine as I find it better than spaghetti, it’s a slightly chunkier version I guess!. Add salt to the now boiling water then add you pasta!. Some say give the pasta a twist, some say add oil to the water, both are meant to prevent the pasta sticking together!. I use loads of water in a large pan, so the pasta has plenty of room to move around, I also add a tbsp of oil & twist (best to be safe)!.
After about 8 to 12 mins (see packet) the pasta should be cooked & ready to drain & serve with your yummy sauce, ready made jar or lovely prepared sensation!.Www@FoodAQ@Com