Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Slow-cooker Bolognese sauce recipe

Bolognese is the kind of thing the slow-cooker is designed for. Obviously, it's great with spaghetti but it's also a good way of managing to get a lasagna in the oven after work as the meat sauce part is already done when you get in.

Good but, in the words of U2, I still haven't found what I'm looking for...
Ingredients for 6:

500g/1 lb beef mince
2 large carrots, roughly chopped
2 sticks celery, roughly chopped
1 large onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely minced
250ml/1 cup red wine
2 beef stock cubes
4 tins (14 oz/400g) chopped tomatoes
1 tsp oregano
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp tomato puree
salt and pepper to taste
bay leaf

Directions:

Make sure your stock cubes are well crumbled and just hurl everything into your slow-cooker to blob away on High for 6-8 hours. If you will be out for longer than that, I suggest you add another can of tomatoes and increase the sugar slightly. Serve with the usual pasta and salad or proceed to make lasagna with the sauce.

Verdict:

I liked this but I think I've made better Bolognese without a recipe. I thought it had too much wine in it which gave an odd taste. I like wine in recipes but this was probably too much. It may just be that everyone has their idea of what Bolognese should taste like (including every cook in Bologna) and this didn't taste like MY Bolognese. I wanted it to taste meatier. Maybe skipping the browning was a mistake. I suggest if you have a favourite Bolognese that you adapt the proportions in this one to the ingredients in yours. The search for the perfect Bolognese continues...

1 comment:

  1. I like this recipe so I thought I would share mine
    500lb mince (not browned first)
    2 tins chopped tomatoes
    table spoon mixed herbs
    2 garlic gloves
    1,5 table spoons tomato puree
    1 table spoon tomato ketchup (this is something my granny did and I have no idea why but I like it)
    1 large onion (either red or yellow, I prefer yellow)
    half a cup of red wine (optional, if I don't have any that I need to use up I don't put any in and it tastes just as good either way)
    and a table spoon of Worcester Sauce

    Optional extras (these are the things I add depending on what I have left over in the fridge) - 1 carrot grated, 1 celery chopped as small as possible, mushrooms, bacon chopped.

    Chuch it all in the slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours and give it a stir about half an hour before the end and voila, one lovely traditional tasting bolognese without all the extra fussing around. Serve with spaghetti or pasta of your choice and either grates cheese of your choice or Parmesan along with a slice or 2 of garlic bread

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