Some thoughts on Bolognese: few tomatoes and a long time cooking. To explain, I try to add very little (if any) tinned tomatoes, instead using a few chopped fresh ones, and always cook for at least an hour and a half. I find the following makes a good sauce in a quantity that will serve three hungry or four average:
• 500g good beef mine. This HAS to be GOOD mince, and none of that lean crap. As Fitz suggests, the description 'steak mince' should get the right thing from the Butcher, or buy the organic stuff from the supermarket
• A couple of medium carrots, chopped not too finely
• A dozen or so good sized mushrooms, quartered
• Half a large onion, chopped finely
• Half a dozen tomatoes, quartered
• A third of a bottle of red wine
• 200ml Double cream (optional)
• Beef or vegetable stock (make up a litre and see how it goes - you'll need more if cooking for a long time)
• A couple of Bay leaves
Use a good dish for this - something like a Le Cruset is perfect.
Brown the onions in some olive oil, then lightly brown the mince. No need to cook the mince all the way through - it's going to cook for quite a while! Then add the carrots, mushrooms, tomatoes and Bay leaves and give it a good stir. Salt, pepper and a few herbs can be added here to taste. Finally, add stock to cover and the wine.
You'll end up with a lot of liquid in the pan - don't worry. Leave bubbling gently (I find a diffuser helps) on the heat with the lid off. Check back every twenty minutes or so, stir and add more stock if the sauce is drying out - you want to keep it pretty liquidy until about 20 minutes before you're ready to serve. At this point just keep the heat on, don't add more liquid and stir more frequently to prevent burning. There should be very little liquid left just before serving.
As a final touch - and this is optional but recommended - stir the cream a minute or two before before serving. Makes a wonderfully rich sauce. Enjoy!
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