How to Cook Spaghetti Bolognese

Serves: 4

Preparation time: 15 mins

Cooking time: 1 ½ hours

Ingredients needed to make Spaghetti Bolognese:

• 1 package spaghetti
• 2 cup button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 canned chopped tomatoes
• Tomato sauce, as required
• 1 ½ glasses red wine
• 1 tsp dried thyme, crushed
• 1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
• Handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
• 1 fresh dried bay leaf
•  3 tbsp mixed herb seasoning
• Grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cooking instructions for Spaghetti Bolognese:

• Cook the spaghetti in a pot of salted water according to the package instructions; drain and wash under cold running water before piling it up in a serving bowl.
• Drizzle olive oil into a skillet to heat it over moderate flame.
• Throw in the onions and saute until they soften, while stirring often.
• Stir in the mushrooms and continue to saute the mixture for a couple of minutes or so.
• Add the crushed garlic and stir-fry the mixture briskly and stir in the ground beef.
• Cook the meat while stirring it often with a spatula and crumble it into tiny bits with it.
• In case, the beef releases any fat (which is most unlikely as we are using its lean version), skim it off with a ladle and continue to cook the meat until it browns nicely.
• Add a splash of red wine to it and bring the mixture to a boil; continue to do so until it reduces to half the original volume.
• Empty the can of chopped tomatoes over the sauteed mixture and sprinkle the crushed herbs over them.
• Place the bay leaf on top and give it a nice stir before cooking the mixture over moderate flame.
• Mash the tomatoes with the spatula while you stir the mixture until it reaches the consistency of a sauce; season with adequate amount of salt and pepper to taste.
• Lower the heat to low, put a lid on, and continue to simmer the sauce for an hour or until it thickens considerably; stir at times while it simmer to prevent it from sticking to the base.
• After an hour, open the lid and stir in the chopped basil leaves.
• Remove from heat and spoon it over the spaghetti; don’t forget to discard the bay leaf before serving.
• Top it up with lots of grated parmesan cheese and finish it off with a dash of black pepper.
• Serve hot.

Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Last Updated on January 4, 2013 by