Any good cooks out there, recipe help!

[Gigi89x]

Im a basic cook, i have a young DS so i look for cooking quick meals.

One of my regular meals is a spaghetti bolognese but its always tastes OK but not great 🤣

I normally add

Beef mince 500-750g
1 jar of passata 400g
Frozen Onions (does this impact the taste?)
2 teaspoons of Dried parsley
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 beef stock cube
Shake of lea and Perrins

2 teaspoons of garlic granules
Salt and pepper

Any help on how to make a nice bolognese would be helpful😂 !! Without any red wine please!

I soften a chopped onion and equal amounts chopped celery and carrots , also a chopped clove of garlic
In a frying pan I seat the beef really well and deglaze with wine
Meat into veg and add good tinned toms and a blob of puree.
Season with s & p and usually add a beef stock cube and a bay leaf.
Simmer for 1-2 hours, add a cup of milk and if I have it basil or parsley.
If I have a rasher around or some mushrooms I might add them but they aren't necessary.
A few fennel seeds can be good .
Don't buy very low fat beef would be one piece of advice from me and check taste as you go along; as a pp said you sometimes need a pinch of sugar.:

I grate in a carrot- adds sweetness and hidden veggie. Good splash or balsamic, sprinkle of sugar.
We don't eat beef, but use pork mince. Try to leave it without stirring so it develops some nice brown maillard bits. Then add onions and garlic, on a lower heat. Tablespoon of extra tom puree at the end

You need carrots and celery to be sweated with the onions at the beginning. The mince needs to be left to fry one side down until very browned, then can be broken up.

Some of the ingredients suggested here have blown my mind 😐 PIL put sweetcorn in theirs… I dread to think what the Italian a would think…

I echo this but would also add that people often put in the garlic way too early and it burns. Like PP said, you don't want to fry the garlic for more than a minute.

Yes, I agree that garlic needs to be added much later.

Mine is a faff admittedly, but it makes several dinners and has loads of vegetables hidden for fussy dc. I make a big batch of tomato sauce:
3 cartons passata
3 tins cherry tomatoes
1/2 head of celery
2 large brown onions
2 large red onions
6 carrots
2 whole heads of garlic
2 red peppers
1 large courgette
1/2 bag spinach

While cooking a different dinner, I slowly brown the onions. Gently, but to brown. Then I add the garlic, roughly chopped, skins and all, carrots , grated, celery roughly chopped. I let that simmer slowly. SomeI even turn that off and stick it in the fridge when cool to pick up next time I cook.

At that stage, I add all the other veg, except tomatoes and sweat it all together a while. Until the courgettes start to break down. Then add tomatoes. I simmer for about an hour, or slow cook for 4 hours on low and then blend it. Then I simmer it again to get it super thick, just so I can freeze it in smaller bits. I use a wee ikea bag that is just the right quantity for a dinner for 4. I also fill a couple of tiny tubs, which end up as pizza topping.

So, each bag might end up a curry, pasta dish etc and used for different meats or paneer, or a vegetable dish. It is just a super base. I usually have at least 4 dinners worth from this after I make my bolognese.

To make it bolognese, I brown off a wee pack of pancetta, then add 500g 5% fat beef mince and 500g pork mince and brown that a little. I crumble in a beef stock cube, add half a cup of red wine, but you can skip obviously. I add 1 cup of milk and simmer v low. I add about 3/4 sprigs each of fresh (or frozen) rosemary, thyme, marjoram and oregano. A wee bit of shredded basil leaves. A teaspoon each of dried oregano, thyme and basil. I taste that out rather than measure tbh. Then I simmer it all for at least an hour.

Sometimes I do it over 3 days, just doing bits around other things, but it tastes fab and we get a load of wee tomato sauce bags in the freezer for future meals, plus 4 lots of meat for spaghetti bol, lasagne etc for the 4 of us.

Oh, I also add a gun of Worcestershire sauce to my bolognese

I fry the onions and garlic gently, before adding the mince.
Tin(s) of good quality chopped tomatoes.
Always some finely chopped celery, for flavour. (Was told this by an Italian.)
Some TV chef (I forget which, maybe Marco Pierre White?) said he always adds both a beef and a chicken stock cube to bolognaise.

It’s personal, but mine is always semi veggie, so I add red lentils and finely chopped mushrooms and carrots. Plus dried Italian style herbs, fresh basil if I have any, and plenty of black pepper.

And I agree with pps, long slow simmering is needed.
Personally I think dried parsley is a waste of time. I love fresh thought, but never put it in bol.

BTW If you just rinse fresh parsley, shake the water off and wrap it tightly in foil, it freezes well - you can just slice some off for soups and sauces.

It’s just usually in the regular spice section in shops.

My recipe:

Chop up 2 big onions, 1 red pepper, 1 green pepper, 2 carrots, 2 sticks of celery, 6 cloves of garlic and 4 slices of streaky bacon - fry in olive oil for about 10 mins.

Add 1lb of steak mince, fry till brown then season with salt and pepper.

Chuck in dried oregano, half a tube of tomato puree, a big glass of red wine, two teaspoons of sugar, a glug of Worcestershire sauce, two tins of chopped tomatoes, a beef stock cube and maybe 100 ml water (or more wine) - bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 90mins.

Add chopped mushrooms and torn basil leaves - cook uncovered for another 30mins.

Will do at least two mealtimes for a family of four.

A good time-saver for when you've got a couple of hours to do stuff in the kitchen is to make a batch of soffrito - whizz up celery, onion and carrot to a minced size in a mixer or blender - and portion it out into plastic bags or little tubs, then freeze it. You can just take one out then when you know you plan to make spag bol. It does make a difference to the depth of the final flavour.

I follow the same tips as most upthread - brown everything well, use tomato purée, add a bit of sugar - and I put in some of that umami paste as well. Waitrose sells it but I think you can get it from most places. And wine!

In addition to what you add, I usually add a bit of ground ginger, black pepper, salt and a dessert spoon of honey.

Any tomato sauce gets added tom purée, and a small amount of sugar.

What's with adding spices to a ragu sauce? It isn't curry.

Hopefully, as we’re not serving our “curry” bolognaise to you, we have your permission to eat it in peace? 🙄

Another one for a dash of milk here!

Ginger? Honey?

Whaaat

Change the granules to fresh garlic or tinned and chopped stuff.
Frozen Sofritto packs are widely available, use that instead of frozen onions.
Get some dried basil in there.
And invest in some mushroom ketchup. Use it as much as the Worcester sauce - it adds real depth to the flavour.

I think people in Uk need to stop calling every red pasta sauce "bolognese" 😁
I make red pasta sauce all the time, just call it pasta sauce. 😁

Ginger? No not in spaghetti

@SaySomethingMan "Hopefully, as we’re not serving our “curry” bolognaise to you, we have your permission to eat it in peace?"
Of course you can! But I genuinely don't understand why you'd call it bolognaise.

I use:
Beef mince - not extra lean as the fat adds flavour
lots of fresh onion, finely chopped
lots of fresh garlic, or garlic puree
Passata
Teaspoon of mixed herbs
around a tablespoon of oregano
Shake of black pepper (not much because I don't like pepper)
Tablespoon of Bovril

Brown the mince, add the finely chopped onions, garlic and herbs and soften. Add the passata, stir in the bovril. Cover with a lid and simmer for a minimum of 2 hours. After at least 2 hours remove the lid and turn the heat up to reduce the sauce down to your desired consistency, remembering to stir so that it doesn't burn.

I am aware this isn't a 'proper' Bolognese sauce but it is a delicious one. My sister adds mushrooms and red wine. A neighbour once added large chunks of (nearly uncooked) carrot. My DH thinks you can cook it in half an hour, but then wonders why his isn't as nice as mine. Officially you should use a soffrito of celery and carrots to start with, a mixture of pork and beef, and milk.
Enjoy your cooking!

I like to keep the veg content up in mine to save money and keep it healthy. For 500g of beef mince, I’d add a tub of chopped mushrooms, chopped very finely, finely chopped celery, quite a lot of grated courgette, and a grated carrot.

I use mixed Italian herbs or herbes
de Provence. I would also add two oxo cubes or a big glug of Bovril, Worcestershire sauce, and some balsamic vinegar. Sometimes I add veg bouillon powder too.

I then add tomatoes or passata, and leave it to bubble for ages. If it is too sharp I add a spoonful of sugar. Then I thicken it to the right consistency with tomato purée.

Way too many ingredients in some of these suggestions.
Simple is key.
Onion, celery carrot fried for ages til softened. Garlic, lots. Take them out then brown the meat. Add veg back in. Splash of wine if you like. Fresh rosemary. Loads of tomato puree(one of the little tins rather than from a tube). Beef stock. Pinch of sugar. Cook for ages.
No tinned tomatoes!
Saw this on an Italian programme years ago where they travelled to Bologna, tinned tomatoes are too acidic.
You will think this will never work but if you cook it for long enough it goes so rich and unctuous!

Also-2:1 beef and pork mince. Makes a spectacular difference. Frozen onions are fine- but use fresh or frozen garlic, not powder. And if you possibly can, cook it the night before.And cook it for ages- just let it simmer away on a very low heat for as long as you possibly can. I don't use sugar-but I do shove a big squirt of tomato ketchup in, which cuts the sharpness of tinned tomatoes.