Saturday night tea. An Italian job.

Tonight, I was going to make lasagne for tea but couldn't be arsed, so instead I just made spaghetti Bolognese. A simple but tasty addition to anyone's cooking list, although I must warn that I like my bolognese quite dry, if you like it a bit more sloppy then just add more toms till it's the right consistency. And the meat sauce is the basis for the lasagne, so I shall add that recipe at the end.

Bolognese

250g minced beef
Half an onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 beef stock jelly
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp mixed herbs
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp oil for frying.

Finely chop the onion and garlic. Add these to a medium hot pan and let them cook until the onion starts to go opaque. Don't let burn.
Add the beef and stir it quite vigorously so that it all colours and breaks into what looks like a fine crumb, you may have to turn the heat up a little. Then add the beef stock jelly, cinnamon, mixed herbs and tomato puree and mix into a paste. When all are well combined add the chopped tomatoes. Cook all of this for approx 20 mins or until you're too hungry to wait any longer.


Here is the recipe for lasagne. You can make lasagne with anything you have handy in the cupboards and fridge but I prefer it like this. Also, you don't need to stick to any specific kind f cheese. Sometimes I find that using up the leftovers of the cheeses in the fridge will produce an interesting sauce. It is nice to finish off the top with a strong cheese like cheddar and a bit of parmesan, but don't worry, just use what you have to hand.

For Lasagne

Bolognese sauce
Pasta sheets
White sauce with cheese (bechamel)
Cheese for sprinkling.

For the white sauce
50g butter
50g plain flour
600ml milk
100-175g cheese, grated
2.5ml made mustard
Black pepper

Melt the butter over a medium heat. Add the flour and beat until smooth.
Add the milk a little at a time and beat well.
Bring to the boil then turn the heat down and cook gently for 2-3 mins or until thickened, stirring all the time.
Take off the heat and add the cheese and mustard.

Now to assemble the lasagne

Grease a ovenproof dish and spread half the bolognese over the base (you could do a third if you wanted a higher pasta to sauce ratio). Top with enough pasta sheets to cover then add another layer of sauce and then end with pasta.
Cover the pasta with the white sauce and top with grated cheese and black pepper.

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I've found that the bolognese sauce has many different uses, like the time I did a twist on the Shrove Tuesday pancakes and made cannelloni. I made 8 pancakes, filled them with the sauce, rolled them, added more tomato and topped with cheesy white sauce. They were delish. It's a pity really as I haven't had them again. Hmm, something for the future...

So here are some of the things I use this sauce for.

Bolognese
Lasagne
Chilli con Carne (just add kidney beans and serve with rice)
Burritos(I shall add a list of ingredients for this in a later blog)
Hash
Bolognese toasties