can anyone help me make a basic spag bol sauce

[starynight]

Using mince tomato mushroom onion and not sure if i need tomato puree?
Dp and ds are fussy eaters so only wanting to make something basic but i have no idea how??

Happy to help -
saute the onion - very finely chopped in a little oil and then add the mince and brown it. Add a tin of chopped tomato, a squidge of ketchup if you have no tomato puree, the mushroom chopped up can be added in - you can grate in a carrot and then a twist or 2 of black pepper and some mixed herbs if you have them. You can also add a splash of worcester sauce or a crumbled red oxo cube... Leave to simmer for 30 mins or so...

This is what I do.

Chop onion, put in frying pan and soften.
Put mince in. When it is browned then tip pan to get excess fat out.
Put in two tins of tomatoes
Put in bits of carrot
Put in three bay leaves
Put in some mixed herbs
Use garlic squashing thing and put some garlic in
If I had mushrooms would put them in

Leave to simmer. Add more liquid if you want.

(I have some simmering now )

And anything else you have in the cupboard, is a good idea. No really. A tiny bit of :
tomato sauce, tomato puree, worcester sauce, hp sauce, mustard, a bay leaf, garlic. mixed herbs. trying to think what i put in mine. seiously i add a tiny dash of everthing i have in the cupboard. works brilliantly !!

drain the fat off the mince, once browned. or stick a bit of kitchen roll in to mop up the fatty juices - makes a big difference.

Much the same put I add finely chopped peppers & mushrooms, sometimes a splash of red wine

I hide a multitude of vegetables grated into my sauces... sometimes add a handful of lentils to!

Also - a dash of balsamic vinegar OR a spoonful of sugar. Bizaarely pickled walnuts chopped up if you have them sitting around is quite nice too. odd but there we go!

Ooh thanks very much everyone shall give it a try now

And it gets tastier the longer you cook it. Put plenty of liquid in (some stock and red wine is good), put the lid on and simmer it gently for 1 - 2 hours if you can stand waiting! Just keep topping up the liquid so it doesn't burn.

I used a bit of chopped up bacon, cooked in with the mince- and I use Passatainstead of tinned tomatoes so no "wateriness" or stalky bits. Cheap at 40p a carton.

Generally spag bol is fab if left to stand or coooekd in slo cooker for a few hours. Agree with Oblomov- you can stick most things in it- blob of mustard is especially good. Add grated raw carrots with the tomatoey stuff if you don't want hard chunks in there.

my ds is fussy but i hide loads of veg in this, i chop carrot, peppers, celery, courgettes (all leftover veg to be honest0, just bung them in food processer then add to sauce as described above. DS scoffs the lot and he only eats brocolli normally. Sneaky veg sauce is my name for this concotion! (It's quite tasty too!)

A spoonful of sugar is good to balance the acidity of the tomatoes. Glug in some red wine if you have it. Balsamic vinegar and/or worchester sauce is good for depth of flavour. After it's been simmering for a while, taste it and add seasonings.

The longer you can cook it, the better. Brown everything in the pan and then chuck it in the oven or slow cooker.

Slow and long is definately the way to go!
I also add a secret ingredient, which sounds bizarre but adds a certain richness
A single star anise!(in the spices section )
Put it in at the beginning and fish out before serving.
Heston Blumenthal suggests this, and, long story short, after DH tried his mad 48 hour long recipe for spag boll. this is the one thing that made it into our kitchen.

I don't use tomatoes in mine at all.
Fry carrot onion celery bacon and garlic for 5 mins then add mince and brown. Then add a teaspoon of tomato puree, half a bottle of red wine and some stock ( lots of liquid ). Simmer for 1 and a half - 2 hours. Add a knob of butter at the end.

The best bolognese ever - took me 15 years to find the recipe I really liked. Bolognese is such a personal thing as this thread demonstrates!

I always use Delias Ragu recipe

which is
onion and garlic
Mince meat
bacon lardons
chicken livers
red wine
tomato puree
tins of chopped tomato
italian herbs
salt and pepper

you don't need any stock or other flavourings and it is a lovely rich sauce.

We had it friday night on DDs request and it made a lasagne tonight.

When you do it in the slow cooker how long does it go in for? Mine always always burns

Hi Easy, my DD loves it, a pkt mince, 1 tin of tomatoes, 1 baby stock cube (from a well known high street chemist), half red pepper, half green pepper, pkt mushrooms, 1 onion, 3 garlic cloves for flaviour and dried herbs.

Brown meat and onion, throw in everything bring to boil, simmer 30 mins.