Spag bog help for the terribly unskilled

[MimsyBorogroves]

Right, I've been making spag Bol for a while now as one of the few dishes I don't cock up. I've since decided to add in more veg (as it's not popular amongst the menfolk in my house) and it's all gone tits up.

The sauce is now thin and watery and very unappetising. I need to thicken it.

I have in the sauce a can of finely chopped tomatoes, 2 sticks of celery, a red onion, tomato paste, a carrot and a couple of cloves of garlic. I assume that the wateriness is from the veg.

So how do I make it thicker? I don't have the option of simmering for ages because of the DSs - toddler screams blue murder if I leave and the older one bounces off the wall. I want to get a slow cooker eventually, but cost is prohibitive.

Help?

Quickly boil a couple of spuds, mash, mix and cook a bit?

Blend some cornflour with a small amount of water to make a paste, add a bit of the water out of the pan to the paste, then add back to the pan.

Let it simmer for a few minutes with the lid off, stirring frequently so it doesn't stick.

Reduce it. Just let it bubble away until a lot of the liquid has boiled off. Keep an eye on it so it doesn't burn and stir from time to time. It'll take longer than either of the aove methods though.

Btw, I put those vegs into bolognaise - except the celery. I fry them in butter first to soften them. I do add tons of liquid after - stock, wine, a bit of milk - so it can take hours to reduce!

If you can't simmer it then mash together a teaspoon of butter with a teaspoon of plain flour and then crumble that in.

The cornflour method should work a treat. Good luck!

And add a bit more tomato paste. And if all else fails, take out toddler portion and bubble fast to reduce that. Keep practicing with the veg, it's worth doing!

Brilliant, thank you all! Will be trying next week