Bolognesepastabake Recipes

Steps:

• For the tomato sauce:
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• Add oil to large skillet over high heat. Add ground beef and saute, breaking up the meat into crumbles as it cooks. Add garlic, oregano and chili flakes and cook a couple minutes. Add tomatoes and season, to taste, with sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer for 10 minutes.
• For the bechamel:
• In a large saucepan melt butter over medium-high heat until bubbling. Add onions and saute until translucent. Sprinkle with flour, stirring constantly and cook until the mixture begins to thicken. Gradually whisk in the wine, if using, and then gradually whisk in the milk and nutmeg and cook until smooth, thick and creamy. Combine the meat sauce and pasta, and then pour in half the pasta mixture. Spoon half the bechamel over the pasta and top with half the cheese. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Bake 30 to 45 minutes until browned and bubbly.

Steps:

• In a food processor, puree onion, carrots, celery, and garlic into a coarse paste. In a large pan over medium heat, coat pan with oil. Add the pureed veggies and season generously with salt. Bring the pan to a medium-high heat and cook until all the water has evaporated and they become nice and brown, stirring frequently, about 15 to 20 minutes. Be patient, this is where the big flavors develop.
• Add the ground beef and season again generously with salt. BROWN THE BEEF! Brown food tastes good. Don't rush this step. Cook another 15 to 20 minutes.
• Add the tomato paste and cook until brown about 4 to 5 minutes. Add the red wine. Cook until the wine has reduced by half, another 4 to 5 minutes.
• Add water to the pan until the water is about 1 inch above the meat. Toss in the bay leaves and the bundle of thyme and stir to combine everything. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer, stirring occasionally. As the water evaporates you will gradually need to add more, about 2 to 3 cups at a time. Don't be shy about adding water during the cooking process, you can always cook it out. This is a game of reduce and add more water. This is where big rich flavors develop. If you try to add all the water in the beginning you will have boiled meat sauce rather than a rich, thick meaty sauce. Stir and TASTE frequently. Season with salt, if needed (you probably will). Simmer for 3 1/2 to 4 hours.
• During the last 30 minutes of cooking, bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat to cook the spaghetti. Pasta water should ALWAYS be well salted. Salty as the ocean! TASTE IT! If your pasta water is under seasoned it doesn't matter how good your sauce is, your complete dish will always taste under seasoned. When the water is at a rolling boil add the spaghetti and cook for 1 minute less than it calls for on the package. Reserve 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking water.
• While the pasta is cooking remove 1/2 of the ragu from the pot and reserve.
• Drain the pasta and add to the pot with the remaining ragu. Stir or toss the pasta to coat with the sauce. Add some of the reserved sauce, if needed, to make it about an even ratio between pasta and sauce. Add the reserved pasta cooking water and cook the pasta and sauce together over a medium heat until the water has reduced. Turn off the heat and give a big sprinkle of Parmigiano and a generous drizzle of the high quality finishing olive oil. Toss or stir vigorously. Divide the pasta and sauce into serving bowls or 1 big pasta bowl. Top with remaining grated Parmigiano. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a rolling boil. Cook the spaghetti in the boiling water until cooked through yet firm to the bite, about 12 minutes; drain.
• Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the bacon in the oil until crisp, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir the onion, celery, carrot, and oregano into the bacon; continue cooking until the vegetables begin to soften, another 8 to 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Crumble the ground beef into the vegetable mixture; cook and stir until the beef is completely cooked and no longer pink, 8 to 10 minutes.
• Pour the balsamic vinegar over the ground beef mixture; allow to simmer until the liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes. Stir the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, and sugar into the ground beef mixture; bring the mixture to a boil, season with salt and black pepper, and remove from heat. Stir the fresh basil into the mixture.
• Ladle the sauce over the cooked spaghetti. Top with Parmesan cheese to serve.

Steps:

• Put a large saucepan on a medium heat and add 1 tbsp olive oil.
• Add 4 finely chopped bacon rashers and fry for 10 mins until golden and crisp.
• Reduce the heat and add the 2 onions, 2 carrots, 2 celery sticks, 2 garlic cloves and the leaves from 2-3 sprigs rosemary, all finely chopped, then fry for 10 mins. Stir the veg often until it softens.
• Increase the heat to medium-high, add 500g beef mince and cook stirring for 3-4 mins until the meat is browned all over.
• Add 2 tins plum tomatoes, the finely chopped leaves from ¾ small pack basil, 1 tsp dried oregano, 2 bay leaves, 2 tbsp tomato purée, 1 beef stock cube, 1 deseeded and finely chopped red chilli (if using), 125ml red wine and 6 halved cherry tomatoes. Stir with a wooden spoon, breaking up the plum tomatoes.
• Bring to the boil, reduce to a gentle simmer and cover with a lid. Cook for 1 hr 15 mins stirring occasionally, until you have a rich, thick sauce.
• Add the 75g grated parmesan, check the seasoning and stir.
• When the bolognese is nearly finished, cook 400g spaghetti following the pack instructions.
• Drain the spaghetti and either stir into the bolognese sauce, or serve the sauce on top. Serve with more grated parmesan, the remaining basil leaves and crusty bread, if you like.

Steps:

• Rinse lentils under cold running water and drain. Place the water and lentils in a saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until lentils just begin to soften, about 20 minutes. Stir the tomatoes and onions into the lentils; bring to a gentle simmer. Crumble the bouillon cube into the lentil mixture and stir until it's dissolved. Simmer for about 5 minutes more, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Steps:

• Cook the spiral pasta until tender.
• Cook lean beef mince in a frying pan until browned and spoon onto pasta.
• Empty jar of Pasta Bake (I use Leggo's) over mince and mix all together.
• Sprinkle with cheeses and back in a preheated oven on 190 degrees C for 20 minutes.
• Variation: add grated carrot and zucchini, or baby spinach and pine nuts.

Steps:

• Heat grill to high. In a large, non-stick frying pan, fry the mince until browned. Add the garlic, sugar and herbs, and cook for 1 min more. Pour over the passata, add seasoning, then simmer while you cook pasta, following the pack instructions.
• Meanwhile, mix the crème fraîche and Parmesan. Spoon half the mince into an ovenproof dish. Mix the rest with the pasta and pour this on top. Drizzle over the Parmesan cream and grill until golden and bubbling. Serve with salad and garlic bread.