Spag Bol

[highlyeccentric]

500g of lean mince- apparently. I think I usually use less than that, maybe around 400g? We just grab some mince and whack it in the pan. The sauce is also just right for one packet of the Sanitarium pre-prepared TVP mince stuff.
1 onion all chopped up. (I think I usually only use half, but depending on your onion tastes...)
1 carrot, grated.
1/2 chopped capsicum.
Garlic
Four or five mushrooms, chopped.
1 tablespoon butter or margarine
425g can (or thereabouts, some come in 400g cans and some in 450g cans) of chopped tomatoes
1/2 cup of sherry (or a swill of any other red wine. In absence of wine add 1/2 cup of water)
1/4 cup tomato paste (which is equal to one of those little tubs that come in pairs)
1 tablespoon tomato sauce
1/4 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp basil, 1 tablespoon of parsly (or alternatively, just shake some mixed herbs in there and call it quits)
1/2 tsp sugar

Now, I've taken all the fiddly time instructions out of this. Steps 3, 4, 5 should be carried out slowly, and take your time in between steps. Figure out where you've put the rest of the ingredients. Drink some of the sherry. That sort of thing.

1. Heat a frying pan and put oil in it.
2. Add mince, stir over high heat until brown. If using TVP out of a packet, mash it around a bit until it's no longer packet-shaped. (and you probably only need to do that on medium heat.) If you make your own TVP you've probably got more idea of what to do with it than I.
3. Add onion, carrot and capsicum and turn down to medium heat. Stir for a while.
4. Add garlic, mushrooms and butter. Leave cooking for a couple of minutes.
5. Add remaining ingredients slowly, stirring as you add each one. (They are: tomatoes, alchohol, tomato paste, tomato sauce, herbs, sugar.)
6. Turn pan down to low temperature, cover it up if possible, and leave to simmer.
7. Now is a good time to put the water for the pasta on to boil. That takes ten to fifteen minutes, and then the pasta takes fifteenish to cook. By the time the pasta is ready, so is the bolognaise.
8. put cheeeeeeeese on top!

The bolognaise can be turned off and left to sit for a couple of hours, or taken out and refridgerated and heated up later or whatever. The longer it's left to soak the better both the meat and the TVP will absorb the flavour.

Comments

spag bol comes in RECIPES now?

[(Anonymous)]

xx pix

Re: spag bol comes in RECIPES now?

[highlyeccentric.livejournal.com]

yes, yes it does. for those of us culinarily challenged it does, anyway.

[phrasemuffin.livejournal.com]

I love it when you post recipes. They always seem so... exotic to me. For example, I would never have thought to put carrot nor capsicum in a spag bol. Also, the closest to sherry that I would ever get would be wine. And I might skip the sugar, too... I can't imagine a sweet spag bol.

[goblinpaladin.livejournal.com]

The sugar is to counter the acid from the tomatoes, actually. It weirded me out as well, but it is a truly necessary thing. Trufax.

[phrasemuffin.livejournal.com]

You know, I was going to comment again saying "unless it's to counter the salt in one of the other things" but then I wondered if salt and sugar were opposities and didn't want to sound like an idiot if I was wrong. Glad to see I was close... ish.

I wonder if my parents put sugar in their bol, or if the canned tomatoes they use just don't need it.