Best bolognaise/ragu recipe

   

I may have mentioned in a previous post that I like to spend my Sunday's batch cooking for the week ahead. My mantra is "Fail to prepare, prepare to fail!" 

I need to have a fully stocked fridge and freezer full of quick and easy dishes and snacks to keep my on track with my clean eating regime.

Pretty much every other Sunday I tend to cook a kilo of mince and make bolognaise, taco mince, cottage pies and chilli con carnes for the freezer. 

This week I decided to mix it up a bit - I chose to use beef AND pork mince and the gamble paid off!! (Yes, I do realize this isn't a game changer for most people but for us it revolutionized our spag bol's.)

Firstly, I browned off the mince with a glug of olive oil. I used 500g of beef and 500g of pork, both at 5% fat so nice and lean.

While the mince browned I gathered together the rest of the ingredients and chopped mushrooms and a red onion. I was extra lazy this week and picked up a Veg Base Mix (carrots, onions and celery pre-chopped super finely) so my chopping time was minimized drastically.

I added the red onion and pre-chopped veggies and let them cook down for 5 minutes and then added the other ingredients (again being lazy!) a Knorr garlic flavour pot and extra rich beef stock, a stock cube, Herbs & More rosemary and thyme melt, half a jug of veg stock, leftover passata and a tin of plum tomatoes, Worcester sauce and red wine (phew!!)

Then begins the simmering process. I try to let it simmer for 2-3 hours before letting it cool fully and transferring to freezer containers or zip-lock baggies. 

 

During the simmering time I taste tested often (treat for the cook!) and added a few sneaky extra's to enhance the flavour. A lidful of mixed herbs (official chef terms coming out now, ha) and a whole tray of mushrooms cut on the chunky side - my fave!

And voila! THE best bolognaise/ragu recipe I have ever made. The meat was soft and crumbly and the sauce almost authentic, even if I do say so myself!

Ingredients:

500g lean beef mince

500g lean pork mince

1 tbsp of olive oil

Finely chopped veggies (2x onions, 2x carrots, 2x celery)

Mushrooms (optional)

500ml of stock (i used 300ml of Bouillon veg stock and added a Knorr extra rich beef stock pot and a stock cube)

1 Knorr garlic flavour pots/4 cloves of garlic (minced)

250ml of passata

1 tin of plum tomatoes

1 tbsp Worcester sauce

1 cup of red wine

2 tbsp mixed herbs

Method:

1. Heat oil in large pan and fry mince until brown

2. Add veggies and fry for a further 5 minutes

3. Add rest of ingredients and give it a good stir, bring to boil

4. Simmer for 2-3 hours