After reading about stirring Bolognese sauce through pasta to save money, I wondered if there were any "obvious" tips I could use?

[RhubarbThumb]

The thread advised you'd use less meat if you stir the sauce through the pasta and then serve. I did this yesterday and it used maybe half as much meat, maybe less, we still enjoyed our dinner.

I pad out mince dishes with red lentils, as my tip.

Also, make pizza at home with dough from yoghurt and flour, and then minimal toppings, but increase things like spinach in there.

Anything else?

Yes, but I need to save money, so we use half the amount :)

Italians eat dried, shop bought pasta, the shelves are overflowing in supermarkets with all different types

Italians use very little sauce to pasta ratio because pasta is the dish and the star of the show whereas in the UK we tend to over sauce the pasta, it makes the dish too saucy but for money saving its better if the pasta is only just coated.

However, food doesnt have a right or wrong (apart from scones of course), if people want to dollop or serve a curry in a rice ring aka 1970, that is ok

I think because you get a thin coating on each strand. If you serve a pile of sauce on top of the pasta you get a forkful of sauce to each mouthful of spaghetti.

I was thinking the same?
How else do you make pasta bolognese? Surely you just use as much meat/veggie alternative as you want. What difference does stirring the sause into the pasta do - because don't you do that anyway 🤷

Because most people put ladle full on top of pasta. Then stir it in. So 4 people 4 ladles.

I put 2 ladles into the same amount of pasta, stir it through and it uses less.

We use half the mince that we used to now.

Sorry still don't quite get it.
Surely you just cook the amount of meat you want and it wouldn't make any difference to how you serve it up?

I halve the meat required for recipes and add mushrooms or pulses (chickpeas/lentils/kidney beans depending on what it’s replacing) instead. Works a treat.

Focus on wasting less.

As PPs have said, add pulses to everything. Even salads.

So, if I serve pasta and then put the meat sauce in another dish and get people to serve themselves.

They will give themselves a pile of pasta (let's say 100g each) and then a ladle or two of sauce.

Each ladle weighs 100g (let's pretend). So if 4 people give themselves a ladle of sauce that's 400g of meat used in one meal.

If I only give 50g of sauce on top of the pasta it will look like you're not "getting enough" because people are used to having a big dollop of sauce on top, it looks like there's not enough, a D people want more.

However, if I put 400g if pasta in a bowls nd storing 200g of sauce, then give everyone a portion, I have used less meat.

It's just, in my experience, people will use far more sauce when it's on top of pasta, instead of stirred through before plating up.

I really don't understand why people are confused by this 😭

@RhubarbThumb to be honest I've never known anyone who serves up the pasta and the sauce separately.
That could be why people aren't "getting" your point 🤔

Add kidney beans and Mexican seasoning to your leftover meat sauce and have with tortilla wraps, salad, sour cream or yoghurt and some grated cheese. Very popular supper with our kids!

@RhubarbThumb
people aren't getting it because firstly, most people don't serve pasta and sauce separately. And secondly, even if they did, wouldn't you get the same result if you just put out less sauce? People can't help themselves to something that's not there.

@HabitHoarder
"But that is probably nice pasta. Not the cheap crappy supermarket own brand stuff we buy"

Don't tell anyone- but there is very little
difference!

@RhubarbThumb "So, if I serve pasta and then put the meat sauce in another dish and get people to serve themselves."

No-serve it already mixed in one dish. People Will always serve themselves too much of the meat sauce if left to their own devices.

@RhubarbThumb I get what you mean.

I save money by using up every last scrap of a chicken or joint, with later meals containing less meat so it goes further.

In case it helps you, I've just added a thread in Chat about how I tried making the magical mn chicken that feeds 5000. I got 16 portions out of it, but could've got maybe 2-4 more if I'd used less chicken in the soup.

@RhubarbThumb I don't know why people are so confused either 😂 you've explained it clearly a number of times!

If PP are confused by the concept of not stirring the sauce through, have they never ever seen bolognese served in the same way as in the photo on the thread?! With sauce on top, not stirred through?

It's normal in my experience to serve pasta with Bolognese on top, not stirred in.
My tips would be to use smaller bowls. To batch cook and when serving, immediately put the other servings into a separate container out of sight, so no temptation to have seconds. To not have pasta, because it digests fast and leaves you hungry not long after eating.

Go yellow sticker shopping on Christmas Eve. Our freezer got filled with meat we are still working through, cutting our monthly grocery bill. You can guarantee a lot of yellow stickers on Christmas Eve. Same applies to Easter when supermarkets are shut!

Cooking bacon is a holy grail thrifty ingredient!

Goodness this thread is a whole bunch of fun 🫠

We use grated carrot to bulk out mince-based dishes. The kids haven't noticed yet, including the one who dislikes carrots 🥕

Less fart inducing than pulses. As much as I love them they don't love me back 💨

If making mince and tatties I always add white pudding for the last 10 minutes (just straight in the pan and it bursts out the side of the skin). Can use less mince and it tastes so much better and i think 2 white puddings are less than £1.50. I also add onion and carrots through the mince.

Cheap frozen mixed veg - gets put in a lot of things incl bolognaise

I always keep the ends of parmesan in the freezer and add to Bolognese/ragu for extra depth.

Are you advocating using less sauce as I think that's what you mean? I dollop then mix it together. I could dollop a smaller amount then mix it through to the same effect as you recommend to save money. Bizarre revelation: eat less, save £££!

I'm baffled at how baffled people are, even with a photo for illustration! I like to stir through but my DH is a dolloper (good word, thanks whoever came up with it).
And he definitely gets through more when he dollops.