Apparently the first solid food I ate was a teaspoon of this Bolognese, which might go some way to explaining why it’s my favourite dish.
It was originally devised by some Italian ancestor of mine, tweaked by my grandmother when she lived in Manhattan, and then again by mother when I was growing up in Sussex. I’ve finally “twuck” it to make it vegetarian-friendly.
INGREDIENTS
1 red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, smashed
1 punnet closed-cap mushrooms, washed and halved
half a green pepper, washed, de-seeded and thinly sliced
300g THOROUGHLY DEFROSTED beef/turkey/Quorn mince – Quorn Swedish-style balls are good, too
1 tin chopped tomatoes
1½ tablespoons passata or tomato purée
½ tablespoon pesto
dried basil and oregano
2 cloves
¾ of a regular packet of dried spaghetti
DO IT
1. Heat up a large pan on a medium hob (a wok is best). Add a good dollop of Olive oil and turn the wok so it coats most of the inside.
2. If using meat, add that first and stir for 3 minutes before adding the onions. If using Quorn, do it the other way round. Add the smashed garlic, turn down the heat and stir for a further minute.
3. Add the mushrooms and peppers, turn up the heat and stir for 2 minutes.
4. Throw in the tinned tomatoes, pesto, tomato purée (or passata), herbs and cloves and stir thoroughly for a minute or so before turning down the heat and letting the Bolognese simmer.
5. Boil a kettle of water, pour into a saucepan, add some oil and salt and let it come to the boil on a hob. Add the spaghetti (don’t tear it in half!), curling it into the saucepan with a wooden spoon as it softens in the water until all the pasta is submerged. When the spaghetti comes to the boil, turn down the heat and let it simmer.
6. Stir the Bolognese again and check its consistency: if there’s little moisture in it, add half a cup of water. Stir the sauce and put the lid on the wok while the spaghetti cooks (10 mins should do; otherwise follow the time specified on the packet).
7. Drain the spaghetti, serve in bowls and spoon the Bolognese on top. Grate some some black pepper and Parmesan over the top to finish and serve with garlic bread if you prefer.
*Tip: This sauce works fantastically as a lasagne sauce or sandwich filling too, sans meatballs, of course.
**Tip: In some parts of Italy they serve this as a starter.
