If you were making bolognaise...

[DorisLessingsCat]

With 1kg of good quality beef mince, how many adult portions would you expect to get?

I'm feeling disappointed with my batch cooking efforts.

3 inc mushrooms, peppers. 2 adults 1 5 year old

500g, that is

Spag bol/chilli/lasagne/curry i add any veg i've got in the fridge to pad it out and get more portions

500g does us 4 (2 adults, 2 kids) so 1kg = 2 family meals. I'm wondering if I'm doing it wrong compared to you lot, maybe I'll try more tomatoes and onion to bulk it out.

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Oh but @Kewqueue I am a lazy fucker.

And it is a lot of work:

Peel and chop onion bastards that make you cry
Peel and chop fiddly little garlic clove bastards
Weigh out, rinse and soak lentils to stop them making us so fucking farty
Brown mince, constantly stirring etc.
Peel and chop carrots - at least they are normal bastards
Make and add stock
Add herbs and seasoning
Add tomatoes
Add a few more tomatoes because it doesn't seem tomato-y enough
Add yet more tomatoes
Cook

Wash up giant saucepan bowls, wooden spoons. knives, food processor and other fuckers that refuse to go into the dishwasher like decent kitchen utensils.

Onions and carrot chopping I'll give you.
Garlic purée
Weighing lentils? Just fling in handfuls. Soaking makes no difference.
I don't brown the mince. I made two batches once, one browning and one not and I couldn't tell the difference. Just stick it in with the onions.
Rinse the tomato tins out with water and add a slosh of wine, no need for stock.

Cook on low heat. Drink rest of wine.

I add a mug of red lentils, 2 tins of tomatoes, 2 grated carrots and a whole pepper. I can make a lasagne and Bolognese sauce for the four of us from that.

My method is (no lentils as they make me want to die after eating)

Brown meat in metal slow cooker pot, while I chop onions, carrots etc. Use garlic purée in a tube. Add veg. Add tinned tomatoes. Rinse tinned tomato tins with red wine. Add appropriate red wine. Add beef stock cube as is, herbs and bay leaves. Bring to boil. Shove pot into slow cooker and ignore for 6-12 hours.

Take pot out slow cooker and reduce a bit/add more wine if you estimated the liquid wrong while you boil the pasta in the evening.

A kilo and a half of mince made 5 2 person lasagnes (in tin foil dishes). They are not massively meat heavy but not totally stingey either. Then spag Bol for 5 adults for dinner.

Was made in the pressure cooker with one jar of passata and 2 big carrots, no other veg although some other liquids.

8 servings per kg. (I cook this at work for upto 120 people each week. I Add onions, peppers, carrots, chopped tomatoes, celery to bulk up and make it tastier.

From 1kg I would expect 8 portions. I'd add two chopped onions, carrots and sticks of celery, plus two tins tomatoes plus garlic. I'd also add some chopped sun dried tomatoes for extra flavour.

I brown the mince together with the onions, garlic and seasoning, it cuts down a couple of steps.

I use frozen onions and garlic puree to save time. It's about a pound for a bag of chopped onions from most supermarkets.

Oh and I won’t buy pans that can’t be dishwashed. If it says it can’t be I dishwasher it anyway til it does and then buy one that can be. My only exceptions are two hand carved utensils, my le cruiset dish and my wooden chopping boards but I use plastic for almost all actual cooking and wooden just for plating up.

I stick my onions, garlic, carrots & celery in the good processor to chop it, much quicker. Apart from that I use some streaky bacon, mixed pork & beef mince, tomatoes, wine, salt & pepper. A spoonful of Bovril if I think it needs a little something extra, plus some Worcestershire sauce. 1 Kg plus that lot would do 8-10 portions.

Eight, mine doesn't have anything to bulk it up.

We're a slightly special case as we grow our own onions, garlic and tomatoes (amongst other things) so no tins or tubes of those.

No slow cooker, we have an Aga which is just as good but only turn it on in colder weather.

Mine is less labour intensive.

1. get pre-chopped onion, celery and carrot
2. brown mince
3. add 1 tin tomatoes, season
4. stir, then turn down low and leave for aaages
5. put pan in dishwasher

My standard Bolognese recipe has 350g of minced beef, 60g of chopped pancetta, a carrot, an onion, a stick of celery, garlic, herbs, wine, stock, tomato purée and milk. That serves 4 quite generously.

Just came on to say there are some desperate crimes against bolognese being described in this post. Seriously, broccoli, green beans, peppers, asparagus, mushrooms, whilst all lovely vegetables, have no place in a bolognese

One of the crimes being my misspelling in the thread title

A dash of milk or cream is really good at reducing the acidity of tomato too. (And is quite authentic Italian as well)

Whoops I did mean 500g, not 50g!! I'm adding another dimension to the renowned MN chicken story that can last a family of ten a week.

16 portions here!
250g does 4 portions in my house.

But I am Italian and don't think I use as much sauce as English people making bolognese.
I use carrots, celery and onions but no over veg.

Although peppers do sound like they'd be nice added to the sauce.

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