Bolognese sauce

Everyone thinks they know how to make a bolognese sauce. But I think it fair to say that there are some recipes that are much better tasting than others. This week I made Jamie Oliver's recipe from his Ministry of Food book. Bleurgh! If that's all Jamie can manage, then I am well on my way to being a celebrity chef.

This recipe is so easy to prepare, but the longer you cook it the better tasting it will be. Traditionally bolognese sauce is made with white wine but I don't include any in mine.

Bolognese sauce - for pasta, lasagne, cottage pie, jacket potato topping...

Ingredients

• 500g beef mince
• 2 tins chopped tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 large onion
• 2 medium carrots (optional)
• 250g mushrooms (optional)
• Any other vegetables you feel like adding - red or yellow pepper and celery go well
• Oxo cubes - 1 beef, 1 Italian
• Balsamic vinegar
• Worcestershire sauce
• Dried herbs - basil, thyme, oregano are all good
• Tomato ketchup
• Tomato puree
• Olive oil

Method

1. Finely chop the onion and garlic.
2. Add about 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a large saucepan over a medium heat. Fry the onion for about 3 minutes until it starts to go soft, then add the garlic and fry for a couple more minutes
3. Chop the carrots into small pieces (and any other vegetables you are using).
4. Add the minced beef to the saucepan. Bash it around with a wooden spoon to break it up into a fine, crumbly texture (or you can use your hands to do this beforehand - just put the mince in a bowl and scrunch it up). Fry until browned and stir frequently so it doesn't stick to the bottom. If it seems a bit dry and keeps catching, add a little bit of water
5. Add the tinned tomatoes, carrots and any other vegetables and stir into the mince.
6. Add a dash of Worcestershire sauce, a dash of balsamic vinegar, a tablespoon of tomatoe puree, and a good squirt of tomato ketchup. Crush up the Oxo cubes and sprinkle them in. Then add a good sprinkling of any herb you feel like using. Stir this all into the sauce along with the mushrooms.
7. Bring it to the boil, then turn down and simmer for at least 30 minutes and preferably more like 1-2 hours, stirring occasionally and making sure it doesn't catch on the base of the pan. If you're going to cook it for a long time, fill up one of the tomato cans with water and add it, and make sure the sauce doesn't dry out.

I have had a few culinary disasters with bolognese. Once, my husband and I decided it would be a good idea to add some cinnamon. Bad choice! Cinnamon goes well in chilli but not in bolognese!

I think I've perfected it now, but as you can tell from the recipe above it's not exactly science!

French style braised beef

This is a delicious recipe for beef stew cooked with wine, tomatoes, and vegetables. Serve it with rice, mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, or just a chunky piece of bread. The meat needs to be marinated overnight, so you need to be a bit organised about making this dish! The recipe originally came from Mary Berry's Complete Cookbook but I have adapted some of the quantities to make it even better.

French style braised beef

Ingredients

500-600g beef braising steak

2 tablespoons olive oil

250g carrots

One medium to large onion

500ml red wine

About 400ml hot beef stock

500g tomatoes (I use a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes and throw in one or two fresh alongside)

100g black pitted olives

About 300g mushrooms (button mushrooms are nice), properly washed

Bouquet garni

2 garlic cloves

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

Cornflour, if required

Method

1. The night before you want to cook this, mix together the red wine vinegar and red wine. Cut the beef into cubes (any size you like) and place in a bowl with the garlic cloves and bouquet garni. Pour over the vinegar and wine mixture. Leave to marinate in the fridge overnight.
2. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.
3. Slice the onion and chop the carrots into large chunks. Chop the tomatoes.
4. Heat the olive oil in a large, oven- and flame-proof casserole dish. Lift the beef out of the marinade and pat it dry with kitchen paper. Gently fry the beef until browned all over. Then lift it out of the casserole and leave to drain on kitchen paper.
5. Add the onion, carrots, and mushrooms to the casserole and fry, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes until they are lightly coloured.
6. Add the beef back to the casserole. Add the chopped tomatoes and olives. Strain the marinade through a sieve and add this to the casserole along with the hot stock. The liquid should almost cover the beef. Then bring it to the boil over a high heat.
7. Cover the casserole with a lid and place into the preheated oven. Cook for about 2 hours until the meat is juicy and tender. I usually stir it once during the cooking time.
8. If the sauce looks a bit thin or watery when the 2 hours have passed, place the casserole back on the hob over a medium heat. Add a heaped teaspoon of cornflour and stir it in. If the cornflour is damp it will go lumpy, so make sure it is fresh and if in doubt use a sieve to get rid of any lumps as you add it to the stew. If the sauce is still too thin, add a little more cornflour until it has thickened.

This meal is truly delicious. It may take a long time to cook but the preparation is practically effortless. You don't need to labour over the chopping - the more rustic the better.