AIBU to ask how you make your spag Bol?

[Aberforthsgoat]

I make my own sauce with chopped tomatoes, garlic etc cook the mince in it, make some
Pasta or courgetti and done.
Friend just told me I should cook the mince slowly for ages - hours - add red wine and a grating of dark chocolate. I’m not going to be doing that any time soon as I’m pregnant and have to work quick in the non queasy window but it’s got me wondering - is slow cooking for hours the norm?!
Have I been doing it wrong all this time?

Its always better the next day.

I dice onion, celery and grate a carrot. Soften in pan. Add garlic. Then I add the mince and brown it. Then red wine, then simmer then transfer from pan to pot and add stock, puree, passata, mushrooms, fresh basil, oregano and some more garlic.

Simmer for 2 hours at the very least
Once the prep is done, its actually really easy. I do a massive pot and portion up for freezing.

The idea of chocolate in spag bol makes me feel very weird inside

@thetonsillolith I add Lea and Perrins to mince if I'm doing a cottage pie, but hadn't thought of adding it to Bolognaise. Doesn't it detract from the italian-ness? I associate it more with gravy based dishes, but maybe I need enlightening!

I put it in the slow cooker too, on low for 5/6 hours, par boil the spaghetti and chop up and put that in too for an hour at the end. Soaks up the excess water and juice and then freezes into portions ready to microwave when I'm on nights. It's not as nice frozen and reheated I admit with the spaghetti mixed in but when I'm nights I'm looking for a quick fix and I'd rather eat something cheaper with less fat out of the freezer than an expensive ready meal from the shops.

It doesn't detract from the Italianess at all @ArtichokeAardvark - I consider it essential!

I use Jamie Oliver's recipe. It's great.

www.jamieoliver.com/recipes/beef-recipes/spaghetti-bolognese/

@thetonsillolith I do! That’s not the reason I’m not making it like that, just I have to act fast when I fancy something at the moment. If I cooked it for hours, the very idea of it by the time it was done would make me vomit at the moment! I’m very fickle! Blame the hormones!

Interesting, so I’m actually in the minority then!

The sauce I make takes about two hours with red wine. The mince I dry fry in a pan until it's really browned and there isn't a hint of chewy, gacky mince. Then it gets put in the sauce.

I missed out that I don't make mine in the slow cooker but in a stainless steel pan on the hob.

Loads of veg including carrot celery onion (no a celery fan but goes well in this), 2/3 bottle red wine, 2 tins tomatoes, beef and pork mince, Worcester sauce.

And yes 3 hours at a low temperature.

I find it all comes together in a meaty sauce rather than just mince with tomatoes if that makes sense. But some people really like mince as a thing in it's own right, I'm not a fan

Another long cooker ☺
Mushroom celery onion peppers carrot tomatoes garlic cloves and herbs about 60% and then 40% beef mince, fry all off and put in slow cooker. Always tastes better second day.

It's always better reheated though

I prefer to sweat off the onions and caramelise them a bit before putting the meat in, I also sometimes add grated carrot at this stage and then use a stick blender to get it smooth.

Add meat. Brown. Sometimes take out some of the fat. Add two tins of chopped tomato, water to the amount of the two tins and then simmer for as long as I can. Tomato puree if I have it, oregano and garlic are musts. I normally add some Worcestershire sauce, generously, and/or some marmite. I do like wine in it but don't really want to waste it on food!

I also sometimes add some minced mushrooms as while I don't like them they are a good padder-outer and you can't taste them if you cook them in well.

DH doesn't cook it look enough, I really hate it when you can see and taste the vegetables as separate things, even if they are soft! I have to admit I blend as much for me as for the kids.

Brown the mince
add chopped onions
chopped green, red and yellow pepper
tin of sweetcorn
sliced mushrooms
Tin of chopped plum tomatoes
Jar of sweet chilli sauce
Add garlic granules
Add paprika
Add hot chilli powder
(Cup of red wine optional)

Best cooked over a few hours but can be ready in 45 mins. Serve with spaghetti. Tastes amazing heated up the next day!

It needs hours. Or at least an hour. Otherwise it’s as a PP said- mince, veg and tomato sauce. Not Bolognese.

Mine is onions well fried, garlic, herbs, black pepper, grated carrot, mince. Red wine, Lea and Perrins, stock cube/jelly. Chopped tinned tomatoes.

Cook on the stove, shove in the bottom oven for a few hours.

Yes AmIright left in the fridge for a day or two and the favour just gets better.

Don't bother.

I use quite mince though, much softer and less dry and its animal free (bonus I'm not vegetarian).

I also add Worcester, sugar and chilli flakes.

I par boil, carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, swede, then blitz them in Passata with mushroom onion, garlic.

I fry the mince (always beef) with onion and mushroom, soy sauce (L&P) add red wine.

Add the sauce and the mince to the slow cooker, add fresh basil, and dried mixed Italian herbs, sundried tomato paste and tomatoe purée

Always served with homemade garlic bread.

It takes half a hour to prep, and is in the slow cooker for 6-8 hours.

@Bunnybaubles sweet chilli sauce? Really?! cannot imagine it in spag bol, intriguing

Chocolate in spag Bol makes me feel wrong as well

I brown the meat in a frying pan with tonnes of salt and pepper and then transfer over to a big cast iron pot. Use the meat pan to fry 2-3 onions and add about 6 cloves of garlic once they’re nearly done. I then tip those into the big pan and add 2 tins of plum tomatoes, 2 tins of chopped, then rinse out all the tins to get about another tin full of tomatoey water. Beef Oxo cube, tomato purée and balsamic vinegar. Cook for a minimum of about three hours. Best when then left to go down to room temperature and then warm through before eating.

Various ways depending on situation.
Usually a long, slow cook of mince, onion, celery, carrot, garlic, parsley, oregano, mushroom ketchup, tomatoes, pancetta, mushrooms, red wine.

Sometimes a quicker cook but it’s not as mellow.
Holidays very occasionally a jar and mince etc.
Always tagliatelle not spaghetti.

I’ve tried putting it in the slow cooker, but it goes mushy, so on the hob. Takes about 30 minutes start to finish.

I use oregano, Italian mixed herbs & red wine.

It is one of the few things my whole family love.

I just make mine with mince, tinned tomatoes, garlic, 1 stock cube and onion (I don't fry the onions just put them in the sauce). Then I bring it to a simmer, simmer for about 30 minutes and turn the gas off. Leave the lid on and the whole lot carries on cooking in its own heat because of the hot pan for hours. A quick reheat when its time for dinner and its done. Thickens up nicely during that time without the fear of the pan catching at the bottom.

Oh, forgot the oregano, bayleaf and basil.