Rich, misty-day bolognese

Bolognese is always a good idea. It has a cross seasonal appeal and an ability to soak up a little of the day it’s made in. Yesterday, the wind eased back and left a beautiful sea fret hanging over the house. I find the wind disconcerting,  but there is something magical about the low mist that sometimes follows. In honor of the magic mist, I used a batch of fresh chicken stock in the bolognese , which then slowly simmered and reduced all afternoon creating a rich and rather lovely sauce.

I have been using Nigel Slater’s bolognese recipe for a while now but needed to adapt it today due to having a glut of celery but no carrot and having lost the nutmeg (yes apparently I live in a house where it is possible to loose a jar of nutmeg) and also didn’t think the usual quantity of wine made it very baby friendly.

Garlic, onion, celery and mince cooked together until mince brown then add salt and pepper and some tomato paste – a pint or so of fresh chicken stock (I’m not sure there is a huge art to making chicken stock – I just sling in the carcass in a pan after a roast and cover it with water – maybe some herbs if they are to hand and maybe some garlic cloves and salt and pepper – apparently the longer you cook it the better but we’re not really clock watchers over stuff like making stock around here).

I’m sure it could have been enhanced in all sorts of lovely ways had I not been racing out the door with 4 little people to get to a swim class, but it was pretty fine as it was when we came home. (Add some milk about 20 mins before eating it to make it even richer, and of course, have it over pasta of some kind with lashings of cheese).

beef, bacon and pumkin spag bol

Again this was made in a crazy rush before taking the boys to swim class. Chopped garlic, onion, 2 zucchini, large chunk of pumpkim cubed, a few rashers of bacon chopped , 500 g mince, a couple of carrots – cooked all that together until mince brown – added 2 cans chopped tomato , squirt of tomato paste, large cup of veg stock, generous splash of red wine, salt, pepper, grate of nutmeg – covered and simmered it for an hour and half while out then added about 100ml milk and cooked it uncovered for about 20 mins. Had it with spaghetti – pumkpin was a great addition flavour wise and heaps of leftovers for lunch tomorrow

extra veg bolongnese

Onion, garlic, celery, carrot, zucchini, button mushrooms – cook down for a few minutes in olive oil with salt and pepper, added good beef mince and brown then a jar of passata (400g) cup of red wine, cup of veg stock – cover and simmer for an hour and half, add a cup of milk and simmer uncovered for another 30 mins.

Had with spaghetti and lashings of parmesan

chili

Garlic, onions, carrot, mince, chili powder (about half a tsp to keep it mild enough for the kids) half a jar of passata, tin of chopped tomatos, kidney beans, tomato paste, cup red wine, cup veg stock .. more liquid than usual but wanted to keep it simmering while took the kids to the beach so being cautious not to let it dry out).. an hour or so later after a paddle came home to a fine chili.

beef and basil spaghetti with rocket and avocado salad.

ok so this is really just another version of spag bol I just make it so often i need to call it different things to amuse myself…and this version is more of a beefy – basily number than the last effort which was more traditional.

Onion, garlic, chopped capers, good beef mince, salt pepper, a big pile of mushrooms, a few left over cherry tomatoes – cooked all that for a bit till meat brown then passata, tin of chopped tomatoes, as much fresh basil as I could harvest from the garden and of course red wine. Let it simmer for a while and ate it with lashings of parmesan and an avocado and rocket salad.

spaghetti with sloppy joe sauce

Big veg hit tonight. Onion, garlic then grated zucchini, carrots, celery, beetroot – then added beef mince and cooked through then passata, worcester sauce, spoon of brown sugar and slug of red wine vinegar. We had it over spaghetti  with cheese and avocado but would have been good in tacos.

Proper spag bol

Spag bol has gone from being one of my favourite meals to the thing I make when I don’t want to cook and somewhere along the way it’s become a bit of a loveless meal thrown together with mixed results in a slapdash fashion. Tonight as G was around so was a bit more chilled out than normal I decided to make a proper spag bol. Started with onion , garlic, 2  carrot and  2 celery, finely chopped and cooked in a little olive oil with oregano. Then in with the mince – 500g good beef mince and cooked until browned. 1 cup red wine, 1 cup veg stock, 1 cup passata, grated nutmeg.. simmer the whole lot for an hour or so and then slowly add about a cup of milk and cook off for another 20 mins or so. Served it with lashings of parmesan. Reckon it could have handled more veg and perhaps even some bacon in the base but a vast improvement on the sorry state of affairs that spag bol in our house had become.