Spaghetti Bolognese
If you asked me and my husband what our all-time favorite comfort food was, we would say in unison that it was spaghetti bolognese. Not the fancy-pants $30 Italian restaurant variety – but the homey variety. And after many rounds of experimentation, I’ve finally nailed down a formula that we both love.
It’s based in part on a recipe I found on allrecipes.com, which was provided by Holland House. (Naturally, the recipe asks that you use Holland House Red Cooking Wine. But it’s really quite good so I don’t mind that much…)
Anyway, here’s my take on the recipe:
SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE
INGREDIENTS (2 big servings!)
- 3oog minced beef, rinsed
- Half a medium onion, chopped
- 1 medium carrot, chopped
- 1 stalk of celery, chopped
- 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 cup Holland House® Red Cooking Wine
- 1 can of tomatoes, diced (use an Italian brand of tomatoes if possible, and drain some of the juice away so the sauce doesn’t get too runny)
- 1 can tomato paste
- 2-4 tbsp tomato ketchup (adjust qty to taste)
- Oregano
- 180 g spaghetti, cooked
DIRECTIONS
The original recipe included using beef bouillon cubes but that made the sauce painfully salty. And I added ketchup to the list of ingredients because it adds that final kick that takes the recipe from pleasant to terrific.
The whole exercise should take you about 35-40 minutes. If you’re the sort who plans ahead than chop your vegetables the day before and keep ‘em in the refrigerator to save yourself the scramble on the actual day.
Here is a picture of two of the ingredients that may have sounded foreign:
