Spag Bol help

I always put tomato puree and worcester sauce in mine, whether that would have made a difference i'm not sure.

I wouldn't put courgettes in a spag bol.

I'd usually chuck some red wine in to it. If you want a really rich recipe try delia's one - it takes a while, but it's good.?

For richness I use various combinations of:

red wine

balsamic/red wine vinegar

lea & perrins

tomato puree

green or red pesto

beef stock cube

I always put a stock cube in mine to make it richer.

I put red wine in if we're opening a bottle to have with dinner (mostly drink white), otherwise I use port.

I think it's not so much about what you put in, but how you cook it (although personally I wouldn't use sweetcorn or courgettes). Start by browning the mince well in a very hot panb with a bit of olive oil. Take the mince out, add onion, celery (if using), carrot (if using), mushrooms and garlic to the pan and saute until the onion is translucent. Then return the mince to the pan and add the tomatoes and a good bit of red wine and some chicken stock if you like. Turn the heat right down and reduce it for ages - it's best if it's cooked for about 3 hours. If the sauce tastes bitter or metallic (tinned toms sometimes do), add a bit of sugar. You don'rt really need to add any dried herbs - I find the veg, well-browned meat and wine add all the flavour you need, but add a bit of oregano at the end if you want. Reducing is the key - a watery sauce will always lack flavour.

Oh, I find adding a bit of pancetta or chicken liver also makes it richer.

You're missing a couple of bayleaves. Stick them in with the herbs and then just take them out before you serve.

I ran out of them recently and I really noticed the difference when I made the sauce without them. Even H and his asbestos tastebuds noticed it wsa different and not as good as usual.

You could also commit a hitched sin and stick a beef oxo cube in while it's simmering (unless you're a veggy of course).

WSophieS.

I sometimes include some chopped pancetta/bacon at the start. You can also chuck in a few chicken livers (although I never do this).

I would definitely lose the sweetcorn and courgettes- bolognese should be rich and meaty and too many veg dilute it. If you want to be healthy, have a big salad after or alongside the pasta. I generally do include carrot and celery as I think they give a good baseline of flavour but chop them very very small- they should pretty much disappear into the sauce rather than being big vegetable lumps in it.

What they all said...also try adding some anchovy paste in aswell. Doesn't ad a fishy flavour just makes it richer.

Thanks that's helpful. I hadn't thought of bacon but yes that would definitely add a bit of flavour. Re: the courgettes and sweetcorn, i wouldn't usually but only had a little bit of mince and they had to be used up! was slightly strange but quite nice.

I'd lose the sweetcorn & courgettes too. FWIW mine uses onion, lots of garlic, minced beef, oxo cube, peppers, mushrooms, tom puree, passata, salt & pepper. In that order in fact. As Sophie said it needs to cook for ages.

Remember as well that the more veg you add the higher the water content will be, so the more you'll need to reduce it. If you're adding a lot of veg to any sauce, you get a better flavour by roasting them first than by adding to the sauce raw and effectively stewing them.

I do spag bol slightly differently.

Fry 2 to 4 chopped garlic cloves in oil for about a minute to flavour the oil, then add 2 tins of plum tomatoes - its important not to break them up, add a pinch of oregano or a sprig of fresh (any herb is fine) and cook it for 20 to 30 mins until its reduced and thickened. Then break up the tomatoes, remove the sprig and check the seasoning and leave it to one side.

Whilst the sauce is cooking brown the mince (any mince you want even sausages are fine), onions, celery and carrot (sometimes bacon or pancetta). Then add it to the sauce and cook for another 15 mins and voila.

You can pretty much add any seasoning you want to the sauce, you can omit the herbs and use it for chilli con carne instead or even add no meat at all.

Rosemary Conley does a spicy spag bol in one of her books:

450g mince meat; 1 onion; tin chopped toms; tblspn tom puree; 2 tblspns ketchup; 1 tblspn brown sauce; clove garlic; tspn chilli powder; 1/2 tspn tobasco sauce.

I just chuck meat and chopped onion in, brown off; add rest of ingredients and cook for about 3/4 hour or so. Camperkid adores it....

OR: authentic recipe:

750g minced beef; 1 large onion; (brown off, strain off excess fat/liquid) put back in pan, sieve a tin of chopped tomatoes into mixture; add 2 tblspns tomato puree, tspn basil, tspn oregano, 1/2 tspn thyme, 1 ltr water (but I use 500ml), bring to boil, simmer until liquid reduced - takes about 1 1/2 hours - 2 hours. You can add garlic to the mix if you want, but it really doesn' t need it. This recipe is really tasty.

WSS - but i also add a bit of tomato sauce in my spag bol too. Not sure why but it always tastes nicer with a bit of tomato sauce in it.

but thats more like a chilli, not a bolognese.

i do what sophie does, always starting though by frying the pancetta first, removing it, then the meat, removing that, then the onions and garlic, celery and grated carrott. my Italian g/father alwyas did this, and then simmered it for at least 3 hours. its always delicious.

I think the cooking is the ultimate 'thing'. Low & slow.

I managed to make a passable one the other week with just toms, garlic, pepper, sugar & a sprinkle of mixed herbs (It was cheapie Friday).