Category: recipes dinner

Ingredients

1 tbsp olive oil
3 rashers of smoked bacon chopped
1 large onion chopped
2 garlic cloves crushed (optional)
500g lean (5%) mince beef
150ml red wine
1 x 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
2 fresh or dried bay leaf
1/2 tsp fresh or oregano
1/2 tsp fresh or thyme
Drizzle balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper
Handful of fresh basil leaves, torn into small pieces

Spaghetti Bolognese

Best Spag-Bol Ever!

One of my absolute favourite Italian dishes and so easy to make a batch and freeze for later.

This recipe tastes so much better if you use fresh herbs grown in your garden. Oregano and Thyme and Basil are easy to grow in English gardens and provide great flavour from late spring through to late Summer

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large heavy based saucepan over a medium heat

Fry the bacon until golden for 8 minutes

Add the onions and garlic, frying until softened for about 8 minutes

Increase heat to medium high

Add the minced beef and fry until browned, breaking down any chucks of meat.

Pour in the wine and boil until it has reduced in volume by about a third (will look like a thick gravy).

Reduce temperature

Stir in the tomatoes and immediately add the following:-

Bay leaf

Oregano

Thyme

Balsamic vinegar

Salt

Black pepper

Cover with a lid and simmer the Bolognese sauce over a gentle heat for 1 to 1.5 hours until the sauce is rich and thickened, stirring occasionally.

At the end of cooking time, stir in the basil and add any extra seasoning if necessary.

Remove from the heat to settle while cooking the pasta.