Ingredients
- Passata 500ml jar (half was used, depends on how rich you want your sauce)
- Tinned chopped tomatoes
- Mince (extra lean if possible, half a normal sized pack)
- Garlic powder
- Mixed dried herbs
- Chilli powder
- Paprika powder
- Salt
- Pepper
- Beef gravy granules or a stock cube
- White wine or red wine (I used a glass of white wine instead of red and it was slightly nicer!)
- Vegetables of your choice (I always pick mushrooms and peppers)
- Spaghetti or pasta
Equipment
- Frying pan
- Sauce pan
- Spoon
- Fish slice or similar
Instructions
- Firstly brown the mince in the frying pan with some garlic powder, I don't use oils as the meat itself produces a lot during cooking, but it is important to keep the mince moving if you have a non stick pan. Make sure the mince is chopped up with a fish slice (or something similar) when cooking, there's nothing worse than big chunks of mince!
- When the mince is nicely browned and the fat drained into a tub or sandwich bag (not down the sink!!) it's time to put the saucepan on the stove at a low heat.
- Add the mince, tinned tomatoes, as much of the mixed herbs as you like, a touch of paprika and chilli powder and allow to simmer for about 7 minutes.
- You will now notice that the sauce has reduced, therefore top this up with some passata, a glass of wine, and add some gravy granules or stock. The only problem with gravy granules is that they can often take over the flavour, so make sure you add little amounts and taste before putting more in.
- Add the vegetables to the sauce pan and allow to cook for approximately 25 minutes on low heat, stirring occasionally.
*make sure you taste the sauce and see if you want anything added to it, you can add to the mix but you can't take away*
- When you think the sauce is near enough done add a tiny amount of salt and pepper to taste, and boil your preferred pasta.
- Serve and enjoy!
Tips
- The idea with this recipe is to be constantly tasting it, there are no measurements involved, it's what you think should go. The more used you are to tasting your meals, the more educated you will be on what goes well.
- Only add a tiny bit of paprika, it's very spicy so you can leave it out if you think the chilli powder will be enough.
- The longer you allow the dish to simmer, the most tasty it will be! A bad way of explaining it, but the flavours do burst out once it's been on a low heat for so long.
- You can add all the ingredients at once to reduce cooking time if you're looking for a one pot type cook.
- Make it yours!
I do love this bolognaise sauce and I hope up you will too! It's delicious, easy and not packed with sugar like the shop brought ones. It is time consuming but you can always use a slow cooker, or freeze it to have during the week
Hope you enjoy this recipe :)
K x
