Im after the most delicious, indulgent bolognese recipe...

[BrokenBanana]

You know like when you go to an itialian restaurant and they serve up the best god damn bolognese that you've ever tasted? Well that's what I want! Mine always turns out nice enough but it's never amazing. Is anyone very very good at this that can share some secrets with me? Or anything similar, I'm just craving some hearty pasta meals.

Delia's one is great as a base, but I leave out the chicken livers (can't bear the texture). I also use umami paste instead of purée, and bung in a teaspoon of marmite. We have cupboards full of random condiments TBH but Worcestershire sauce always goes in too. Amazingly it never turns out too salty (mainly as I rarely add salt in cooking ESP if using the extra bits - marmite and l&p are reasonably salty I find).

Oh, and reduction is the key to amazing flavours. Mine sits reducing for about 90 mins... Very low heat!

So do you make the sauce separate from the mince and then pour it over? Never heard of umani paste, where can I get that from?

I use half passata half tomato to give it extra richness. Worcestershire sauce or a splash of tomato ketchup ( the latter told to me by an Italian!!). Bacon adds to the flavour too. Plenty of thyme and oregano - with fresh basil chopped and thrown in at the end.

Nigel Slater's from Kitchen Diaries. This looks almost identical: www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2003/may/11/foodanddrink.shopping5

The cream at the end takes it from great to outstanding IMO.

Cook for ages too. I slow cooker mine sometimes and then brown mince and add to the "sugo" sauce later

Bacon bits seem to figure in ours if chicken livers don't. And sometimes milk (I don't love that tbh).
Lots of finely chopped carrot, as well as the usual onion. And celery. All chopped in the processor. The celery makes it really good.
Sometimes we use vast amounts of fresh tomatoes. Cut them in half, lay them face down on foil with oil and a pinch of salt, then roast at 160 for 40 mins. Lift off the skins and mush up the tomatoes.

I am told that a really decent bolognese needs to be cooked for 2 days!

Biggest tip is the slow cooking; maximum flavour output. I too use the slow cooker - overnight. The smell the next morning is mouth watering!
Will try cream next time..something I'd not heard of or thought about.
I use the same process for lasagne too, which is tomorrows nights dinner coincidentally.

Milk?! Never heard of that in a bolognese sauce!
Right so,
Fresh tomatoes, roasted,
Bacon bits,
Fresh herbs?
Lea and Perrins,
Cook for ages

What about red wine? Does that work in it?

I made the best ever bol sauce (as said by others - not just me!) this weekend and it had pancetta and red wine in it cooked for 5 hours until it was almost dry - really intense flavours - also lots of onions slow cooked for about 30 mins first with very fine celery and garlic - just tinned toms with tiny sugar pinch - think secret is to bubble off the liquid ..

I use milk, it's lovely.

usually use beef, lamb and pancetta or minced pork (yuk) the more meat the better with garlic (or onions) carrots and celery, passata, red wine, sugar, tomato paste, maybe chili flakes salt and pepper - think that might be it? Sometimes add all the fresh herbs at the very end but it doesn't really need it

remember to add the pasta to the sauce rather than the other way around and mix well before you serve (recently traumatised by a bit of dry pasta)

Slooooooow cooking - I did one 2 weeks ago that I cooked for 12 hours (and it was still better the next day)

An entire bottle of cheap red wine added when you put it in the oven to cook on a long, low heat. Do the initial combining ingredients on the hob but the cooking in the oven.

Half pork, half lamb mince too.

Do you use stock or wine?

First fruit a finely chopped onion in a few table spoons of olive oil, when the onion has become translucent, add a grated carrot and very finely sliced celery stalk without any stringy bits, gently fry this for about 10 minutes. Now add 500grammes good quality beef (50%) a pork (50%) mince (ideally from a good butcher as a lot of the supermarket mince has high water content). Brown the meat. Now add 2 packs of Passata (ideally Cirio, as they are premium quakity and fully ripe) or 2 cans of Cirio plum tomatoes and then use either both cans or packs fill with water and add this to your sauce. Let this cook on a low to medium fire for approx. 2 hours. If it becomes too thick add some more water, if too liquid turn up the heat and stir so it doesn't burn. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with spaghetti. Simple, but authentic and delicious.

Brown minced beef with garlic, soffrito and olive oil. Add Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce and a small amount of cocoa powder a couple of cans of chopped tomatoes and a bottle of decent red and a sprinkling of mixed Italian herbs. Slow cook for 8 hours in slow cooker.

I made an immense one last week,
Usual bolog mix,
Carrots, celery, onions, beef, thyme, rosemary,oregano, bay leaf, chopped matos, puree half a bottle of redwine, stock cube, handful of porridge.
Cooked for 6 hrs at 140ish.

Oh and garlic

I do the 50/50 beef/pork mix.

I sometimes add some chorizo too. I add that finely chopped to the soffrito which is done slowly on a very low heat.

The secret to restuarant tasting bolognese, and in fact most dishes, is SHEDLOADS of butter.

A large knob at the end of the cooking time and the sauce transforms.

Mary Berry's one is pretty good - the redcurrant jelly makes all the difference!

books.google.co.uk/books?id=1Kq50MBPdDUC&pg=PA304&lpg=PA304&dq=mary+berry+spaghetti+bolognese+from+complete+cookbook&source=bl&ots=pJ1n-HTC7u&sig=i9sWTNSL3NHvTEe83yDB9fHtNzI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=cq7AUcyzIIHsO9rYgdgI&ved=0CDsQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=mary%20berry%20spaghetti%20bolognese%20from%20complete%20cookbook&f=false