Bolognese Recipe?

Has anyone got a good bolognese recipe that can be made with fresh tomatoes (either slow cooker or stove)?

As we have a load of tomato soup in the freezer already, I am now thinking of making up a load of bags of bolognese that will get us through the winter.

 

You can use fresh, ripe toms with this recipe.

BOLOGNESE/CHILLI
This recipe is typical of my normal proclivity to try and make cooking easy. The basic sauce can be used for a Bolognese and with a few additions it becomes a chilli.

As the basic sauce is very good for freezing I usually make a large quantity and divide it into portions for the freezer. When making large quantities I add ingredients by ‘feel’ and not by measurement but I give a general guide below. I rarely use less than 2 kilos of mince but the recipe is for 1 kilo.

1 kilo minced beef (I find that I get a better result by using just ordinary mince and not ‘best’ or ‘lean’ mince but this requires skimming the excess fat off during, or after, cooking)
2 Tbs Olive Oil
2 lge onions finely chopped
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 Bay leaves
1 stock cube (for some reason chicken seems to work better than beef)
1 level Tbs mixed dried herbs
1 x 14 oz can of chopped tomatoes or equivalent of fresh ripe tomatoes
1 heaped Tbs of tomato puree
1 sweet green pepper, chopped (optional)

For the chilli (if wanted):-
1 level Tbs paprika (optional)
1 heaped Tbs of cumin seeds
Dried red chillies, to taste (dried chillies work better than fresh or powder)
2 tins red kidney beans

Fry onions until soft then add garlic and Bay leaves. Continue frying until onion starting to turn light brown. Add ¼ of the mince and stir continuously until juices start running from the meat. Then add more mince etc. (If you put in all the mince at once when cooking large quantities the mince can start to burn before it starts cooking).

Let this simmer, uncovered, until there is no more red colour in the mince. Then add the stock cube and the mixed herbs. Simmer, covered or uncovered, for 30 mins. Add the tinned toms. (At this stage, the cold toms being added may cause some of the fat to collect around the side of the pan making it easier to skim off). Add the puree. Simmer for 15 mins. Add the peppers and simmer for another 15 mins. During the cooking you can skim fat off as often as you like (the red colour from the puree makes the fat easier to see).

This is the stage between Bolognese and chilli. The paprika can be added to give a slight extra flavour and a richer colour. To use as a Bolognese you can either use the sauce just as it is or add any of your favourite ingredients e.g. carrots, mushrooms, more tomatoes, wine etc or some more mixed herbs or fresh basil leaves.

For the chilli: crush some dried red chillies (tends to work better than fresh chillies), stir in, and continue simmering for 5 mins. Taste and add more chillies if required. Heat a heavy bottomed pan and put the cumin seeds in. When the seeds start jumping, shake them around the pan for 20 seconds then put them into a mortar and grind them, coarsely, with a pestle. Add them to the sauce and stir. Rinse the beans, add them to the sauce and simmer for 10 mins.

More beans can be used if you wish, as can cumin and other flavourings. Serve in a bowl with bread and salad on the side (typically Mexican) or on a bed of rice.

 

Hmm. Everyone has their own version! Personally I refuse to add carrot or paprika to a bolognese.
300g Beef mince, 200g pork mince.
One onion, one celery stalk, one garlic clove, 1 bay leaf
tom puree, two tins chopped toms (or you equivalent in this case)
2 beef stock cubes
rich red wine

Get the pan smoking hot without oil and dump the beef mince in to sear and get some colour. Optionally drain any fat. Remove from pan and add pork, do the same and remove from pan. Turn down heat.
Finely chop the onion and celery and sweat down gently, add garlic after a few minutes. Add in meat to the veg and stir through.
[The order of this bit is dependent on how you like your flavours layered] Add in huge dollop of tom puree and stir through; add crumbled stock cubes and stir through. Add wine to pan (and your waiting glass) and stir through and simmer until alcohol has evaporated. Add bay leaf and toms and simmer all of it for at least 2 hours. You may need to top up with small amount of water occasionally. Season with salt and pepper half way through

 

I agree with you . I never use paprika but some people like it added to chilli, so I put it as optional when designing recipes.

 

Thanks all

I am keen on the idea of making a bolognese with them purely because it will give us a sort of 'ready meal' option during the winter months when my workload is generally at its heaviest - just makes for an easy microwave meal, but still with the goodness of being homemade.

I'll get some bits and bobs at Sainsbury's today and hopefully have a cook off on Sunday

 

I have already got bags of tomato base type sauce, except mine has onion and garlic in it also, and no honey - however, I will probably pinch your recipe @"M" for any further batches

I'm just back from Sainsbury's and have a load of minced beef & pork, so going to make bolognese and meatballs (probably on Sunday), portion them up and they can join the rest in the freezer which means we will have:

- Tomato soup (eight family portion bags)
- Tomato base sauce (currently three bags, may well increase)
- Spicy beef stew (also used some of the Caribbean peppers from the G/H)
- Bolognese (I reckon I should easily get four or five family size portion bags)
- Meatballs (again, four or five family size bags)

all of which I can use throughout the winter as quick and ready meals (barring some pasta etc)

I also came home with a load of apples, raisins, demerara sugar, vinegar and spices - - I have quite a few tomato plants that are looking past their best, and still some green fellows on the vines, so they will be made into chutney

We still have some radishes and lettuce to harvest, then I will be planting endive in the greenhouse for winter, and maybe some chard as well; I also have the leeks to harvest as and when, and they are destined for leek and potato soup amongst other things.

Any remaining tomatoes that ripen will probably be made into Minestrone soup.

All in all, not a bad wee stash in the freezer for the efforts in the garden this year

PS - I have parsley in the greenhouse which will come in onto the kitchen windowsill over winter, and I am going to sow some chives, basil, thyme etc and grow them on indoors on the windowsill too

 

Ooooh, now the meatloaf sounds like a fantastic idea! Thanks @"M"