bolognese in the slow cooker - doesn't taste quite right

[mckenzie]

I didn't follow a recipe, just fried off carrots, onions, garlic, celery then added quorn mince, tomatoes, tomato puree, some stock and some red wine.
It tastes quite 'sharp'. I've added some sugar but it's still not right. If it was curry I'd say it needed some coconut milk but I can't put that in bolognese. Any suggestion please?

TIA

Sugar or tommy k

If I remember correctly quorn mince is not meant to be cooked over a long time but rather added to the sauce towards the end. You're basically doing it the other way round compared to beef/lamb mince.

Alcohol is no good in a slow cooker. It doesn't get hot enough to burn off the alcohol content and just leave the flavour. That's what's causing the sharp taste.

oh dear. So should i whisk it out of the slow cooker maybe and put it high on the hob for a little while to sort out the wine?
Or will that make the quorn worse?

Never cook tomatoes more than twenty minutes, it starts going sour. Good if you like sour.
Drain off the sauce, leaving the quorn mince and veggies.
Chop fine some fresh tomatoes, cook gently ten minutes. Add quorn mince etc. cook a bit longer, add salt, keep tasting. add some cream, perhaps.
as for the drained off sauce,save it for a curry, and add that coconut milk.

More tomato puree, sugar and some Lea & Perrins. If it's too runny take the lid off so that the excess water can evaporate.

Disclaimer: L&P is not veggie

If you used tomato ketchup then it contains vinegar and could be the source of the sour taste. (no pun intended)

Hope, I make tomato sauce in the SC and cook it for several hours. It's never gone sour though.

Tomatoes don't go sour! I hate the sharpness of tomatoes, made a ragu last night which simmered on low for 3 hours. Lovely and rich.

Try a dessert spoon of brown sugar and some tomato puree.

thanks for all the tips guys. everybody ate it, we just used more parmesan than we normally do
I'll remember all the tips though - thank you

agree tomatoes do not go sour with long cooking. If anything their sweetness intensifies as the water content is cooked off.

Tomatoes do not go sour with long cooking ragu sauces take hours to make properly.

For future reference, I was taught to make a tomato based Ragu by Italian friends. They cook tomatoes for hours, cooked right down and this is especially important if you have added puree. The metallic taste this imparts is because it has not been cooked down long enough. I do a Sofritto- fine dice garlic, onion, celery and carrot cooked until soft then add the other ingredients. I tend to add fine sliced Fennel to my ragu as it imparts an amazing sweet, clean flavour. No aniseed, just depth.

Tomatoes don't go sour if you cook them down for a long time. Using a variety like San Marzano helps too as they are bred and grown for cooking. Ordinary Dutch hot house tomatoes have too 'bright' a flavour giving that acidic 'thin' flavour.

Another ingredient I use to add extra depth to non meat based sauces is a tube of Laura Santini Taste No#5. It is Umami paste made w/ anchovies (no fishy taste though) Parmiggiano, sundried tomato, olives and other Umami rich ingredients. It is brilliant. Waitrose/Ocado and other supermarkets stock it.

A drop of milk? That's what I use

thanks guys! I'm saving this post for sure

We always do the sauce in the slow cooker but just fry off the mince at the end and add it

Not a fan of overdone mince.

Mignonette that umami paste sounds fab. I sometimes add anchovies to a beef casserole which as you say gives a good rich depth without any fishiness. I've just looked on ocado and can't find it though

I use a spoonful of oyster sauce to my ragu sauce. Maybe it works in a similar way to umami paste.

Fatsatsuma

Waitrose sells it. Have you looked at their site? If not PM me and I can post you some.

umami

sainsburys do the paste.

Thanks Mignonette that's a very kind offer. I've got a waitrose nearby (and a Sainsburys) so I'll see if I can track it down.