As I have a lot of time on my hands these days, I’m clearing out my home kitchen cupboards which are full of gadgets, me being a self-confessed gadget geek. (If it exists I have it). Anyway, I had decided to buy myself a spiralizer and had been looking for one everywhere.
I wanted to buy it locally or at least in Ireland but I just couldn’t find one I wanted. BUT yes, you’ve guessed it, they’re sitting in my cupboard was exactly what I was looking for. It is now sitting proudly on my worktop and I just love it. This was the first dish I made with it so here is my recipe for you to try.
Bolognese Sauce:
500gms Beef Mince
2 Diced Onions
1 Carrot finely diced or grated.
1 stick Celery finely diced.
2 cloves Diced Garlic.
150gms Pancetta (or Bacon bits)
2 tins Chopped Tomatoes.
2 tbsp Tomato Puree
1tbsp Italian Herbs (or Herbs de Provence)
Method:
- In a frying pan lightly fry the pancetta, onion, carrot, celery and garlic until the veg is softened.
- In a large saucepan brown the mince, in two batches if necessary, then drain any excess liquid.
- Add ingredients from the frying pan, tomatoes, tomato puree and herbs.
- Bring to the boil then reduce heat to a gentle simmer.
- Cover the saucepan and allow to simmer for maybe two hours until you have a rich sauce.
Now look at you! You have made a delicious Bolognese sauce that you can use for lasagne, or to serve with spaghetti or courgetti, or you could bake a potato and top it with your sauce. The choices are yours.
Courgetti:
This is simply courgettes that are spiralized then cooked on a wok or frying pan in a little bit of butter for 3 to 4 minutes.
Notes on Bolognese Sauce:
Use mince with low-fat content, I use 5%. The higher percentage ones appear cheaper but all the fat melts and is drained off, so you get less from them. The carrot and celery do add an extra depth to the flavour but are not essential. If you don’t have pancetta and have a few rashers in your fridge, chop them up and use them and I’m not a bit bothered whether they are smoked or unsmoked. Sometimes I use chorizo, I love the different flavour it brings.
I personally prefer fresh garlic but there is nothing wrong with the garlic puree that comes in a tube if you prefer to use it. You can buy jars of Italian herbs or herbs de Provence, but basil and marjoram are the most important and if that’s what you have then use them. Basically, what I’m trying to say is that if you stick to the basics of this recipe you can adapt it any way you like and while jars of sauce are convenient, there really is no substitute for cooking from scratch. It’s tastier, preservative-free, cheaper and so satisfying so get cooking.
