One of my earliest childhood memories was our family’s monthly “dinner-out.” My father believed that it was important for us kids to be exposed to the rituals of eating out at a decent restaurant with real silverware and matching crockery – not quite 5 star but also not a glorified diner. The small town where I grew up happened to have a decent selection of Italian owned and run restaurants and so it was that, more often than not, our monthly dinner out would be an Italian occasion. I quickly learned a love for that Italian favourite – spaghetti bolognaise. The comforting predictability of the hearty tomato based mince sauce, the strong aroma and flavour of the parmesan sprinkled liberally on top and oh, the endless joy of (as a seven year old boy) being able to slurp the al dente spaghetti through pursed lips was enough for this dish to be my standard order every month! I was probably eight or nine before I become more adventurous with my menu choices (largely because my father insisted that I expand my horizons regarding culinary options.)
Whilst the passing years have seen my tastes in food expand considerably, spaghetti bolognaise remains a firm favourite on the menu in our home. Particularly when the weather outside moves toward winter and the November winds tug hard at the last leaves on the trees, a bowl of one’s favourite pasta smothered in a rich, hearty bolognaise sauce does much to drive the winter blues away.
Here then, is my take on this Italian classic. As always, this is a guideline to creating this dish. Please experiment liberally to create your own version:
You will need:
+ 500-700 grams fresh tomatoes or 2 tins of whole tomatoes
+ large onion
+ large green or red pepper (capsicum)
+ 2-4 cloves of garlic
+ 500 grams beef mince (I prefer lean or low fat)
+ 1 teaspoon butter
+ 3 teaspoons salt
+ 1 teaspoon sugar
+ 1 teaspoon dried origanum or basil (if you have fresh, even better – increase the quantity as you like)
+ Ground Black pepper to taste
+ 200-300 gram dried spaghetti
If using fresh tomatoes, clean the tomatoes and remove the cores with a paring knife.
Place the tomatoes whole into a medium saucepan and place on the stove at low heat with the lid on. The rule of thumb here is that the longer the tomatoes simmer, the more intense the flavour. Whilst some people prefer to skin the tomatoes prior to cooking, I don’t. In theory, cooking tomatoes with the skins on could lead to a slightly bitter flavour. I have never had this problem.
If you’re using tinned tomatoes, proceed exactly the same way. Your total cooking time can obviously be reduced.
Leaving the tomatoes to merrily simmer away, you can carry on with the rest of the prep as follows:
Chop the capsicum, onion and garlic.
Melt a teaspoon of butter in a medium saucepan and add the capsicum first and allow to simmer for 2 or 3 minutes on low heat with the lid on. Then add the chopped onion, stir lightly, replace the lid and simmer for a further 3 or 4 minutes.
At this stage, remove the lid, add the garlic and remove from the heat.
And now, here is a little trick that you may or may not know… Very often, pre-packed mince ends up looking something like this:
With mince compacted like this, it can be difficult to get it to cook without clumping, I’ve found that the best way to avoid this is to allow the pot to cool slightly and then add the mince. Using a fork, rapidly scrape the mince from side to side until it has broken up and mixed with the onion, capsicum and garlic mix.
Somewhere during this process, you can add a teaspoon of salt and pepper to taste.
Once all of the ingredients are completely mixed in, turn on the heat to high and stir continuously with the fork until the mince is completely cooked.
You will notice that be using this method, the mince cooks more like good ground beef than like clumping kitty litterJ
By now, your tomatoes should be well cooked and ready for blending. If your blender or stick blender can handle hot liquid, go ahead and blend the tomatoes. If not, you’ll need to allow them to cool before blending. You can also simply mash up the tomatoes with a fork but I really do prefer using a blender. In either case, take care! Hot tomato sauce splashing around can cause nasty burns!
Add a teaspoon of salt, origanum or basil and a teaspoon of sugar. The sugar is really optional but it does tend to enhance the flavour of the tomatoes. (PS: this tip is out of Farncis Coppolla’s classic movie, The Godfather.)
Add the sauce to the mince mix and return to low heat with the saucepan lid half on and half off.
Using another saucepan, bring 1.5l water to the boil. Add ½-1 teaspoon salt. When water is boiling rapidly, add the pasta gradually taking care to not cool the water too rapidly. Stir initially to prevent the pasta from sticking. You can add a few drops of olive oil to help with this but I don’t. Cook the spaghetti until al dente (tender but firm to the bite.) As a kid I remember learning that once spaghetti is al dente, it sticks to the ceiling if removed from the pot and thrown straight up. This practice was immediately banned in the home upon me discovering it. Exercise caution should you decide to try it. Painting ceilings is no fun.
Once the pasta is cooked, strain it in a colander and immediately serve it with your yummylicious bolognaise sauce! Of course you can top the sauce with parmesan, grated cheddar or, for something truly decadent, a blue cheese like gorgonzola. Here, I have topped mine with a home-made soft cheese called sirini which is traditional in Eastern Europe.
Bon appetit y’all!