A Scottish Mother's Spaghetti Bolognese Sauce

There is clearly a bit of a story attached to this recipe which it is better to relate before I proceed with the recipe itself. This recipe differs from any other that I have included on this blog - or anywhere else, for that matter - in that it is not one which I created or at least adapted. No, I am not committing plagiarism, nor have I been chatting up any elderly ladies of Italian descent: the recipe is actually my mother's.

This is a recipe which I vividly remember my mother (who has no Italian links) preparing from my earliest childhood but - even as a food writer and editor - I have strangely enough never asked her how she actually makes it until very recently. This is especially surprising, given the fact that it is so good. I therefore deemed to put that fact right and share it with the wider world at large. My mother (a vegetarian!) devised the recipe through trial and error, without clearly ever tasting it herself. I was certainly surprised myself both by certain inclusions and omissions from this recipe but please try it out for yourself before judging it.

The quantities in this recipe provide for two people.

Ingredients

1/2lb minced/ground steak (or beef)
2 small carrots (scraped and diced)
1 medium white onion (moderately finely chopped)
2 large closed cup mushrooms (moderately finely chopped)
8oz tomato puree
1 tbsp tomato ketchup
A little boiling water

Method

Brown the minced/ground steak in a large pot. Ensure that it doesn't burn. Add the carrots and the onion then enough boiling water to ensure that everything is submerged. Simmer gently for ten to fifteen minutes.

Add the mushrooms, followed by the tomato puree and ketchup. Stir very well and leave to simmer gently while the accompanying spaghetti is prepared according to the instructions on the packet.

Drain the spaghetti and arrange on the serving plates, prior to spooning the bolognese sauce on top. Freshly grated parmesan cheese can be added if and as required.

Footnote: I have to admit that there is one thing I always add to this recipe and that is salt. That again, however, is a matter of personal taste.

Bonus Recipe Today! - Bolognese Sauce with Cheese on Toast

I couldn't bring myself to publish this post with my own sole contribution to the recipe being the addition of some salt, so I decided to share with you a way in which I love to eat any leftover bolognese sauce.

Ingredients

2 tbsp Bolognese sauce
1oz grated/shredded cheddar or other hard cheese
1 slice of bread
Freshly ground black pepper

Method

The first step is simply to re-heat the Bolognese sauce. Toast the bread thereafter on one side and turn it over before spooning on and smoothing out the Bolognese sauce. Sprinkle the cheese carefully on top and grind the pepper liberally on top of the cheese. Place back under the hot grill until the cheese has melted and begins to bubble furiously.

This makes a great lunch idea for the day after the Spaghetti Bolognese has been served but remember to ensure that the sauce is refrigerated if being left overnight and very thoroughly re-heated prior to use.

Yet Another Bonus Today

Do you ever have a problem judging how much spaghetti to make per person? I know that it used to be a common problem for me! Not long ago, however, I found this clever little tool on Amazon. You simply determine how many people you are cooking for and use the appropriate hole to determine how much spaghetti to cook. Obviously, it is not foolproof, as peoples' appetites vary, but it should at least significantly reduce the amount of unrequired and cooked spaghetti you are forced to discard - or even worse, the number of occasions upon which you come up short!

Click on either the Amazon.com or Amazon.co.uk panel below to go a long way to ensuring that your cooked spaghetti is of the right quantity in future.



Relevant Associated Links for your Further Information

Tomato and Basil Pasta Recipe

Healthy Beef Recipes

How to Easily Make your own Homemade Pasta

Quick, Delicious, Homemade Pasta Dishes

A Pasta Guide from A-Z

Cheesey Pork Fillet with Garlic Roast Potatoes

The most important thing to remember when cooking pork is that it must never be underdone. Just like chicken and unlike such as beef, pork must be cooked all the way through to eliminate the risk of food poisoning. This recipe includes first cooking the pork and then adding a delicious cheese and sage topping as a finishing touch.

Ingredients

1 pork leg fillet
1 large potato (unpeeled and chopped)
1 tbsp frozen peas
1 clove of garlic (crushed)
1oz cheddar (or other hard) cheese (grated or shredded)
Pinch of dried sage
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 tbsp sunflower oil and a little more for frying

Method

Place a baking tray in to the oven and put the oven on to preheat to 400F/200C/Gas Mark 6. Chop the potato in to bite-sized portions and put them in a large bowl with the sunflower oil and some salt. Swirl them around to ensure even coating with the oil and salt. Tip the potatoes on to the preheated baking tray and put them in to the oven for a total of thirty minutes, taking them out to give them a gentle shake and ensure even cooking every ten minutes. Set the bowl aside (unwashed) for later use.

When the potatoes have been on for ten minutes, put a little sunflower in a non-stick frying pan and bring it up to a medium heat. Fry the pork fillet gently for ten minutes each side or until done. Set aside to rest.

When the fillet is cooked, the potatoes should have about five minutes to go. Add the garlic to the unwashed bowl then remove the potatoes from the oven and add them also to the bowl. Swirl or stir them in the garlic mix to cover them, then return to the tray and the oven for five more minutes. Adding the garlic at this late stage prevents it from becoming over-cooked and tasting bitter.

Mix the cheese with the sage and some freshly ground black pepper. Carefully press the mix down on top of the pork fillet and place the fillet on to a grill pan and under a hot grill until the cheese melts and begins to bubble.

The frozen peas should be cooked per the instructions on the packet, usually by boiling them in water for two to three minutes.

Plate up your meal as shown and serve immediately.

Are you a lover of pork? Are you on the look-out for tasty new pork recipes? Take a look at the book below, available at great prices now on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Hearty Chicken Broth

I am of course aware that soup is normally considered but one course of a dinner, rather than as being a dinner in itself. This thick and hearty chicken broth, however, served with some crusty bread, can more than suffice as a meal in itself.

Ingredients

4 pints of fresh (or defrosted) chicken stock
1 leek stem (sliced across ways in to 1/4" thick discs)
2 carrots (1 roughly chopped, 1 grated)
Handful of chicken pieces (if available)
4oz basmati rice
2 tbsp frozen peas
Handful of fresh parsley (roughly chopped)
Salt and pepper to season

Method

Heat the stock in a large soup pot until it comes to a simmer. Add all the ingredients except the parsley and peas and simmer for half an hour. Add the parsley and peas and continue to simmer for another five minutes only, before serving up bowlfuls of this hearty and delicious chicken broth.

Bacon and Tomato Pizza Omelette Recipe

I call this a pizza omelette quite simply because it is made in a very similar fashion to an omelette but can easily be cut in to wedges and eaten like a pizza! There are of course an endless variety of different minor ingredients which can be used in it but the principal ones in this instance are ham and tomato.

Ingredients

3 large, free range, organic eggs
3 rashers of bacon
1 large tomato
2 tbsp cold water
1 tbsp fresh breadcrumbs
2oz cheddar cheese
2 large basil leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

Crack the eggs in to a bowl and add the water. Beat thoroughly with a fork or whisk then add the breadcrumbs and seasoning and stir well.

Roughly chop the bacon and add it to a dry, non-stick frying pan. Bring gently up to a heat and the melting fat from the bacon will eliminate any need for such as butter or oil. Fry the bacon gently until cooked, then add the de-seeded and roughly chopped tomato. Fry for another minute or two until the tomato is cooked.

Spread the bacon and tomato as evenly as you can over the bottom of the pan and gently pour over the egg mix. Put your grill on to pre-heat to maximum and gently cook the omelette on a medium heat (still on the stove or hob at this stage) until you can see that it is almost fully set.

Tear the basil leaves in to small pieces and scatter over the almost set omelette before placing the pan under your hot grill. Grate or shred your cheese.

When the omelette is set and has risen slightly due to the yeast in the breadcrumbs, scatter the cheese over the top and place back under the grill just long enough until the cheese is melted.

Brocolli and Cauliflower Cheese Recipe

It was recently mentioned to me by Linda Joyce, a reader of this blog, that I had not included any recipes for vegetarians. Personally, I am an omnivore - verging upon being a carnivore - and simply hadn't realised this quite unforgivable omission, even though my mother is vegetarian! I am therefore beginning the rectification of this siuation and promise to include more vegetarian recipes on a regular basis.

Most people will have heard of cauliflower cheese and perhaps be very fond of same but whenever I am making cauliflower cheese, I also include broccoli, both for its excellent health benefits and for even tastier results. The following recipe is for two people.

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower
1 head of broccoli
4 oz plain flour
4 oz butter
12 to 15 fl oz milk (depending upon how thick you like your sauce)
4 oz cheddar cheese (grated or shredded)
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
Basil leaves for garnishing (optional)

Method

The first step is to wash the cauliflower and broccoli and split them in to florets. Put the cauliflower only in to a large pan of boiling, slightly salted water. This is because the cauliflower will take slightly longer to cook than the broccoli. When the cauliflower has been simmering for four minutes, add the broccoli and cook for a further eight minutes only.

It is vital when making the sauce that the milk be heated first until it begins to simmer. Adding cold milk to your roux can cause it to be lumpy or worse. Pour the milk from the saucepan in to a jug or bowl and slowly melt the butter, then sift in tthe flour. Stir well and cook for a two to three minutes, stirring constantly.

The milk should then be added in three or four stages, stiriing all the time. When a lush, thick sauce has been formed, add the cheese and the grated nutmeg and stir until the cheese is melted.

Drain the cauliflower and broccoli well, place it back in the pot and pour in the sauce. Stir very carefully so as not to break the cauliflower and broccoli florets, then serve, garnished with the basil if required.

Stilton Stuffed Chicken Breast with Fried Potato Slices

Stilton is often referred to as, "The King of Cheese." This is an analogy with which I wholeheartedly agree. I am a big cheese lover but without question or hesitation, I would name Stilton as being my favourite cheese of all. That is why, although there were many different cheeses I could have used in the preparation of this recipe, it absolutely had to be Stilton.

Ingredients (Per person)

1 free range, organic chicken breast fillet
1 medium potato (unpeeled)
2 to 3 tsp crumbled Stilton cheese

Method

As ever, remember to put your oven on to preheat to 400F/200C/Gas Mark 6. Lay the chicken breast fillets on a chopping board so that their longest part runs top to bottom. Take a very sharp knife and - if you are right-handed - slice very carefully through the meat from the right side downwards towards the chopping board and across at an angle towards the left. Take all the time you need to do this as you do not want to pierce the chicken breast at the other side. You merely wish to creat a downward sloping cavity in to which you will insert the Stilton. You may find it easier to make several slits, deeper each time, almost as though sawing rather than cutting.

When the slits in your chicken breasts are almost but not quite all the way through the meat, you should pack them with the Stilton, though not too tightly or the breasts will lose their shape and the Stilton will simply overflow.

Place a sheet of aluminium foil on a baking tray and the chicken breasts carefully on top. Add another sheet of foil and wrap the edges to form a sealed parcel.

Place the chicken breasts in the oven for around twenty-five minutes.

Slice the potato lengthwise in to slices about 1/8" thick. About five minutes before the chicken breasts are due to be ready, bring a little sunflower oil up to heat in a frying pan and add the potato slices. Cook for five minutes until the chicken is ready then turn and cook on the other side for a further five minutes. The chicken should be removed from the oven, the foil package very carefully opened to prevent scalding from escaping steam and the breasts allowed to rest for the remaining five minutes it takes the potato slices to cook.

Beef and Green Pepper Puff Pastry Tart

This recipe is simply one variation of a theme I have employed for many years. I have made Prawn (Shrimp) and Pineapple Puff Pastry Tarts, Chicken and Mushroom and even all vegetable variations. The concept is infinitely variable, just like with an omelette or pizza, and this beef and Green Pepper Puff Pastry Tart recipe should therefore be viewed in a certain sense as an example for developing similar dishes to suit your own tastes and those of your family.

Ingredients

8oz puff pastry
1/2lb stewing steak
1 green bell pepper
1 pint of fresh beef stock
Pinch of dried or fresh thyme
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method

The first step is to cook the stewing steak. Brown it quickly in a large saucepan before adding the thyme, black pepper and hot beef stock. Note that salt should never be added to meat at this stage as it draws the moisture and will probably make it tough. Add salt if desired only at the stage of serving the dish.

Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and allow to simmer gently for one hour.

If you are perhaps one who fancies yourself as something of a pastry chef, it is of course entirely possible and acceptable to make your own puff pastry. I am afraid, however, that I tend to buy it from the supermarket or butcher's shop when I buy my beef.

After the beef has been simmering for around three-quarters of an hour, put your oven on to preheat to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Roll out the puff pastry to a thickness of about an eight of an inch, in as close to a rectangular shape as possible. Trim the edges at the end, if required.

Grease a non-stick baking tray very lightly with some butter and sit the pastry on it. Leaving a border of about one inch all the way round, prick the centre of the pastry extensively with a fork. This is to ensure that the border will rise much more than the centre where we will place the beef and pepper. Glaze the unpricked border area with a little milk.

By the time the oven is heated, the beef should be cooked. Place the pastry in the oven and add the chopped pepper to the beef mixture. Cook for five more minutes simply to heat the pepper through and then drain well.

When the pastry has been in the oven for about ten minutes, remove it and very quickly add the beef and pepper to the central well before putting it back in the oven for ten more minutes. This will dry out and darken the surface of the beef only to some small extent but the centre will stay luscious and juicy in what is this short cooking time.

Do you love beef? Have alook at these bargains currently available on Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk.

Lamb Biryani

This recipe is one which I developed over a period of time and did not suddenly come up with overnight. I normally use chicken instead of lamb in the preparation but as lamb is one of my favourite meats and I have eaten Lamb Biryani on several occasions in restaurants, I thought it was time to give this a try. I was more than delighted with the results.

Ingredients

1/2lb diced leg of lamb
1 small onion (halved then thinly sliced)
2 cloves of garlic (crushed or very finely chopped)
5oz basmati rice
Half a small cauliflower head (broken in to florets)
1 tablespoon of frozen peas
3/4 pint of fresh chicken stock
1/2 tsp powdered cumin
1/2 tsp powdered turmeric
1/4 tsp ground coriander seed
1/4 tsp chilli powder
1 3" cinnamon stick
2 small tomatoes (cut in to segments)
8 1/4" thick cucumber slices
2 tbsp of freshly chopped coriander leaves (cilantro in USA)
1 tbsp sunflower oil
Salt

Method

Mix the powdered spices and the sunflower oil in a large bowl to form a smooth paste. Add the lamb pieces and stir very well to ensure even coating. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Put the chicken stock in a small saucepan and bring it up to a simmer. Add a little more sunflower oil to a large stock or soup pan and sweat the onion and garlic off for a couple of minutes. Add the lamb and fry on a high heat until all the pieces are sealed. Add the rice, stock, peas, cinnamon stick and cauliflower and bring up to a gentle simmer. Cover and simmer for about fifteen minutes, until the rice has absorbed all the stock, stirring occasionally.

Remove the pan from the heat and be sure to remove and discard the cinnamon stick. Add the tomato, cucumber, salt to taste and coriander/cilantro, stir well and serve.