5 A Day Bolognese Recipes

Steps:

• Put ½ tbsp of the oil in a large saucepan over a medium-high heat, add the beef and fry until well browned. Tip out into a dish and put the pan back on the heat with the remaining oil. Turn the heat down and cook the onions and leeks for 8-10 mins or until very soft, then add the garlic, pepper and courgette. Fry until the veg is starting to char at the edges and any water that's been released has evaporated.
• Tip the meat back into the pan and add the tinned tomatoes, purée, stock and oregano. Stir everything together, cover and simmer over a low heat, stirring occasionally, for 35 mins. Meanwhile cook the spaghetti following pack instructions, then towards the end of cooking, stir half the parmesan into the Bolognese. Put a spoonful of the pasta water into the sauce to loosen it, if it looks too thick, then drain the spaghetti. Tip the pasta onto the sauce, toss everything together to coat and season well. Garnish with the remaining parmesan and a few basil leaves.

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large (12-inch) skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ground sirloin and cook, crumbling the meat with a wooden spoon, for 5 to 7 minutes, until the meat has lost its pink color and has started to brown. Stir in the garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and cook for 1 more minute. Pour 1 cup of the wine into the skillet and stir to scrape up any browned bits. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper, stirring until combined. Bring to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.
• Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil, add a tablespoon of salt, a splash of oil, and the pasta, and cook according to the directions on the box.
• While the pasta cooks, finish the sauce. Add the nutmeg, basil, cream, and the remaining 1/4 cup wine to the sauce and simmer for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until thickened. When the pasta is cooked, drain and pour into a large serving bowl. Add the sauce and 1/2 cup Parmesan and toss well. Serve hot with Parmesan on the side.

Steps:

• In a large skillet heat the olive oil. When almost smoking, add the onion and garlic and saute over medium heat until the onions become very soft, about 8 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and saute for 5 minutes. Raise heat to high and add the ground beef. Saute, stirring frequently and breaking up any large lumps and cook until meat is no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley and basil and cook over medium low heat until the sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper. This will take approximately 1/2 hour. Finish bolognese with Pecorino Romano.

Steps:

• Ensure the minced meats are at room temperature, leave defrost overnight if necessary its best to do this after you have done the tomatoes.
• Tomato Preparation (the night before):.
• Cut a light cross in the smooth end of the tomatoes. In a large pot of rapidly boiling water, quickly place a tomato in and let sit for no longer than 30 seconds to blanche the skin. Remove and rinse under cool water to stop the cooking process. You should now be able to gently peel the skins off the tomato.
• Next, quarter the tomato and spoon the pulp into a sieve over a bowl. For each tomato that is pulped add a couple of light pinches of salt over the pulp in the sieve. Let the pulp drain overnight in the fridge to remove all the juice in the bowl.
• On the day of cooking dice the tomato flesh and set aside for during the cooking process.
• The day of the Ragu.
• Pre heat an oven to 150°C.
• Dice the onions.
• Heat a good cast iron caserole dish on the stove and add the olive
• Fry off the onion in the caserole dish until they are well caramelized.
• Add the pork mince first and cook off until brown.
• Once the pork is browned add the veal and cook altogether well.
• Add the tomato paste to the meat/onion mix and cook off briefly for a minute or two.
• Add the diced tomato flesh and stir in well, at the same time add the juice collected overnight.
• Stir well and cover the caserole dish then place in the pre heated oven.
• Wait at least 4 hours before removing and giving gentle stir. Test for liquid consistency and add water as necessary to reach your preferred level. This is entirely subjective and it depends how "soupy" you prefer your ragu. Now is the perfect time to test your seasoning levels, add salt as necessary however most of the salt needed is added during the tomato preparation.
• 2 hours before dishing time add the fresh herbs and stir in well and taste test.
• 1/2 hour before dishing remove and do a final liquid check and taste test.
• Dish up and enjoy. This is ideally served on fresh home made pasta (1 large egg per 125g fine plain flour) you should have ample time to make this while the ragu is cooking.