Spag Bol - What's going wrong?

[moragbellingham]

When I make spag bol I always end up with pools of runny liquid in the bottom of the bowl.
Before it's added to the pasta, the sauce is a nice thick consistency. Then hey presto, it changes.
I always drain the pasta well so can't understand what I'm doing wrong. Any ideas?

You can put it back on the heat to drive off some of the extra moisture but there will always be some.

Do you drain the mince of fat too?

Let it simmer for ages???

Oh, don't drain the fat off the mince! That's where the taste is.

cook it for 25 minutes with lid on then take the lid off for 20 minutes.

do you put grated carrots in it, i find if I grate them there is always some sludge, but finely chop them and its fine

you should add the pasta to the sauce not the other way round.
maybe using flour or cornflour to thicken? that holds moisture better in. the pasta acts as a sieve when you pile sauce on top so the liquid drains through.

I should put carrots in (but don't usually)to get some veggies in and sometimes drain off the fat, depending if DH is watching - healthy eater.

I will try some cornflour as a thickener next time, mousey.

Passata, chopped toms or plum? Any difference?

Use 'premium' brand peeled plum tomatoes, never the cheap ones.
It makes loads of difference.

you must drain the fat off the mince and decent use tinned toms

also simmer for ages

I always get quite a bit of moisture in teh bowl once the pasta is in, and then steam hits a colder dish.

Not as bad as yours, though.

Heat the bowls till hot?

Hi morag. I have an Italian MIL )lovely lady) who taught me the "proper" (for that read Italian) way to cook bolognaise. Would you like it? I can list it here for you if you do or can email it to you, if you would prefer?

Just thought to ask - no offense if you don't want it.

Never had pools of liquid at the bottom of bowl with this recipe

Hi Timba - Please list it here - my mouth's watering!!

OK - here it is:

large onion - finely chopped (in food processor if poss)
3-4 cloves garlic - minced/crushed
2 large carrots, peeled - finely chopped
2-3 sticks of celery - finely chopped
500g beef mince
oregano/salt/pepper
tin of tomatoes - whizzed in food processor
glass of red wine
1 pint beef stock (oxo is good)

1. Heat good dollop of olive oil in pan. Add onion and saute 'til golden. Add garlic, saute for a few mins.
2. Add carrot and stir into onions, cook together for about 4-5 mins - til carrot starts to soften.
3. Add celery, stir into mixture and cook again for 4-5 mins til softened.
4. Turn up heat and add mince, brown it all over making sure it is well broken up. Add oregano, pepper and salt. Cook together over lowered heat for a few mins.
5. Add whizzed tomatoes, stir through.
6. Add stock and wine, stir well together.
7. Make sure the mixture comes to the boil and then turn it down to a low simmer and leave uncovered, simmering away, for at least 2 hours, longer if possible. Stir every so often to lift mixture from bottom of pan. The resulting sauce should be nice and thick.

• If possible, make this sauce the day before. After simmering for 2 hours turn the heat off, put lid on and leave overnight. The flavours really blend together. You can heat it through the next day. I use this recipe for bolognaise sauce and for the meat section of a lasagne. It is really tasty.

There are so many takes on bolognaise but this one is authentic. My lovely MIL comes from the region Emila Romagnia - also called the Kitchen of Italy - parmesan cheese and parma ham also come from her region.

Sorry for length of post - hope you enjoy it.

Also, I never drain fat off. I try to use mince that is less than 5% fat - but just go for the best you can afford. It makes a real difference to the result.

Thanks Timba for the recipe.

I do buy the lean, organic meat for the DCs and DH and I have the usual stuff .
I've not bought celery for ages so think I'll get some and make a batch.

I mentioned to someone that I added red wine to my bolognaise and they were horrified, prob cos I give this to my DCs (age 2 and 3).
They were a non-drinker however and maybe didn't understand that the alcohol evaporates off.
Is this really so heinous? Additives maybe?

I just realised, possibly I'm not using enough garlic either.
I LOVE garlic.

Slag bol sauce needs to be simmered for at least three hours and it will turn all rich and concentrated.

Thanks everyone for the tips, will try them all out.
I might try the warm dishes but I get so distracted when cooking they usually end up hotter than sun's core!

Yes, loads of garlic needed and I add wine to mine too which has never hurt my boys and it never hurt me either as I grew up - my mum is Italian.

Blimey, I meant spag, I am trying to post on my I-phone.

Hi morag, sorry just managed to wrestle the laptop away form my DS! I have always cooked my bol with wine (since being taught, of course) and my son has eaten it since being weaned. It's not like I was giving him a glass of the red stuff in his sippy cup - although that might have had much enjoyed suporific bonuses

It really is no issue in our house, which is run of quite mediterranean lines - when you use it in cooking the alcohol burns off and the amount in bol, compared to the other ingredients is negligable.

Make sure you cook it long and slow. For bol it should be thick enough to coat the pasta when added to it. If using for lasagne you might want it a bit thicker (just cook it for longer) as it needs to stay in layer, iyswim.

I have got a few looks from people when I say you need to use celery but it really does make a difference. You can't taste it in itself (my DH hates the stuff and even he acknowledges you need it in bol/las) but it enhances the sauce.

Let me know how it goes for you. It is a receipe that my MIL learned from her mother in the hills of Varsi (who probably learnt it from her mother etc etc) so it really is genuine and very very tasty

827 hours???