Homemade Pasta Bolognese!

Splashy Spaghetti But I Use Pasta...

Wholewheat pasta gives nutritional value  ^__^

It feels as if I haven't done a proper home cooked meal in ages due to my long working  hours helping older ladies pick out their clothes and developing my godlike small talk skills. Therefore, today I decided that I may go all out and make pasta bolognese from scratch. And since the mince I bought was reduced in price as it was about to go off (hey, I'm a poor student!) the decision was made final. 

Bolognese's are good just because you can include what ever vegetables you like in it to make it go further, but I usually just go with a standard mushroom and onion combo with some garlic cloves and a red pepper if I'm feeling particularly adventurous.  It's a meal that tends to remind me of being back at home because I would end up eating it with my family at least two or three times a week when I was younger. My Nan still makes it every weekend when I visit- despite my telling her that I like other foods as well, but there you go; That's family for you!

You Will Need:

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

1 Onion -chopped Good n Proper!

5 Garlic Cloves - Peeled and Crushed

5 Mushrooms roughly chopped

A good amount of Beef Mince (you can freeze whatever bolognese you have left over!)

1 Large tin of Chopped Tomatoes

3 Tbsp Tomato Puree

A good dash of Worcester sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste 

Method:

• Heat up the Olive Oil in a fairly large pan and add the onions and garlic until they start to turn fairly soft and golden in colour
• Add the mushrooms and the mince and give a good stir
• Once the mince is browned add the worcester sauce, chopped tomatoes and tomato puree
• Mix well and simmer for an hour on a low heat stirring every now and then

I'll usually add other things to the bolognese during the hour while cooking to give it extra flavour. For example, I like to add a bit of chilli powder and tomato or brown sauce. Today I ended up including a bit of spicy BBQ sauce as I had neither ketchup nor brown sauce but it still tasted nice.

Use the last fifteen minutes of the hour to cook the pasta/spaghetti of your choice and slap a garlic bread into the oven.

One thing I will recommend with this dish is that you drain off the meat fat before adding the tomatoes as it can taste quite greasy otherwise!

Don't worry if your pan has too much liquid! It will reduce down as it cooks!

A great thing about this meal is that it can be frozen into portions so you can enjoy it at a later date in various forms like in a jacket potato, in a wrap or simply as a pizza topping. So if you do end up accidentally over making (like I did today) you don't have to be stuck eating the same meal for a week!

Cheers M'dears

Jade