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?

High Fernley Whittingstall’s recipe. It’s on another level. A very different result to what gets dished up as spag Bol elsewhere.

Hugh. Fucking auto correct

Is your friend Nigella Lawson, or a millionaire who doesnr needs to work or sleep ever?

Just cook mine, add tomatoes, puree and a beef stock cube, garlic, chopped onions and salt and pepper to taste. Job done.

Also, expensive but easy, buy lazy chopped garlic.

I make my own sauce with chopped tomatoes, garlic etc cook the mince in it

It's the extra that matters. Onions, Celery and Carrot. A mirepoix/sofritto.

Also, the mince needs a lot of cooking. hours and hours.

This is the only recipe I would use

antonio-carluccio.co.uk/recipes/tagliatelle-al-ragu-bolognese/

Please don’t use spaghetti, it is the wrong shape for this dish. Use tagliatelle.

But, frankly, you can make it however you want. Recipes aren't for following slavishly.

Well quite, I have no time for culinary purism.

I never cook from jars (not a snob - just can't buy jars of sauce/premade food where I live in Asia) and always make mine from scratch. I don't slow cook it for hours - maybe just 1 hour , 1.5 hours - and it's delicious! I don't think it's necessary if you find a recipe that works well for you!

'Please don’t use spaghetti, it is the wrong shape for this dish. Use tagliatelle.'

This made me laugh. As if it really matters 😂

Generally speaking, it takes very little more time to make nice food than OK food.

For example.
“Just cook mine, add tomatoes, puree and a beef stock cube, garlic, chopped onions and salt and pepper to taste. Job done”

Do this- but in a slightly different order (brown onions and garlic before you cook the mince) and add some herbs and some wine if you’ve got any. Make it the day before you’re going to eat it and leave it in the fridge for 24 hours. Much better. And swapping half the beef mince for pork mince- better again. Doesn’t take any more time.

I think it’s better cooked for longer, but I don’t get the chocolate - fine in chilli where it balances with the spice, but not in Bolognese! Italians are turning in their graves.

I’m now a vegetarian and make mine with lentils, mushrooms and liquid smoke. It’s absolutely lush - even meat eaters are fans.

Please don’t use spaghetti, it is the wrong shape for this dish. Use tagliatelle.

Or if you want to do it the authentic Italian way, use penne.

I don’t really care either way and tend to use whatever is in the cupboard, but a sturdy pasta like penne is good for scooping up the sauce.

Amazed at how many people can be arsed to cook it for hours.
Mine takes about 20 mins, brown mince and peppers, onions courgette etc, add jar of sauce and /or chopped tomatoes and puree, squeeze of cheat garlic puree, cook for 10-15 minutes. Tastes fine. I've never tasted a bolognese that tasted 'amazing', even one cooked for hours so I wouldn't waste hours on it.

Also I know authentically it should have carrot in but I can't stand cooked carrot in anything, it makes everything taste of it.

I really don't think it needs to be slow cooked to come together, at least mine doesn't!

Mine takes hours and I would never eat it the same day. I leave it out overnight the day I make it for the flavours to develop.

Onions/garlic/carrot/herbs/mince/flour/Oxo cubes/white wine/passata or tinned tomatoes/tom puree/ketchup/worcs sauce/anchovy essence/pepper and salt. Maybe square or two of dark choc if I can be bothered.

Takes at least two hours. It's a very different (and much less nice) dish if you do it quickly and eat it straightaway.

Chop and gently fry onion, garlic, celery, carrot, remove from pan. Brown mince, add veg back, add tinned tomatoes, oregano, basil, salt, bit of sugar, tomato puree, beef stock cubes, bit of water. Put in slow cooker for ages.

Slow cooker for me, this recipe is fantastic. Pop everything in when your are not queasy and eat when ready.

www.spendwithpennies.com/slow-cooker-spaghetti-bolognese/

I put chopped bacon in mine when I'm browning the mince. Then add the usual tomato, onion, mushroom, garlic etc. Cook it for about a couple of hours, but batch cook enough that it does for four or five meals.

I cook mine for hours and hours, I tend to make a massive batch, put it on first thing Saturday morning then let it just barely simmer away until at least lunchtime. Always include smoked bacon, chicken livers and red wine.

Some people seem to think that cooking something for a long time means you have to stand and watch it!

Bertrand I’ve realised that about the fast cookers, too! People are not appreciating the concept of a slow simmer while you just go about your business.

I’m still struggling with sweet corn and sweet chilli sauce in a bolognese. Whyyy

I hate slow cooked mince so it’s a 30 min weekday meal for us! I make it from scratch too and add all the veggies lurking in the fridge

I used to do mine in the slow cooker but now I have a pressure cooker. You can get the flavour and texture of a long cook in next to no time.