Spaghetti Bolognese was one of the first things I learned how to cook. Albeit it was the jar-type where you just brown the meat, add the sauce and wait. I’d grown up watching my mother make a version of this in the microwave in the days where, as a single mother, she’d make dinner in the mornings for us before she went to school and we’d reheat it ourselves in the microwave when we got home from school.

Nowadays, Spaghetti Bolognese is my favorite freezer-cooking recipe. I can buy the ground beef cheap at Safeway now that I’ve worked out their always-bring-that-stupid-red-card-or-we-charge-you-way-more-money-that-we-should system, then I double the ingredients, cook it all up, separate it into three different baggies and freeze it for quick weekday dinners.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Olive oil for frying

500g ground beef

1/2 – 1 cup of beef stock

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1 can of plum tomatoes

1 onion, diced

2 tbs tomato paste (for advice on how to save the rest of the tomato paste in that giant can you just bought, see here)

1 tsp oregano and a pinch of basil

OR 1tsp of Italian Seasoning

I sometimes throw in a bay leaf or two if I have some fresh on the balcony. I’ve also recently taken to adding a 1/2 tsp ground fennel to the dish.

Salt and pepper to taste

Optional: 1 red bell pepper, diced / 1 red chilli, diced / 1 carrot, diced (I added a red pepper to the version in the picture as I had one in the house to be used up)

1. Heat oil and add onions and garlic. Fry for several minutes until translucent.

2. Add ground beef and fry until browned (maybe 5-6 minutes) stirring.

3. Drain fat from pan. Now, this is a little tricky if your pan doesn’t have a lid but with some practice and a nifty spatula, it’s almost accomplishable.

4. Return pan to heat. Add oregano, basil, (or Italian Seasoning / bay leaf if using), tomatoes, puree and stock (and peppers / carrots if using).

5. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring often to crush up the tomatoes.

6. Remove bay leaf / leaves and serve with spaghetti or tagliatelle, grated Parmesan (or cheddar cheese as we usually just have cheddar in the house) or chilli flakes (The Canadian One’s condiment of choice).

TIP: To sneak veggies into this dish for little kids, try grating up a carrot and throwing it in in Step 4. The kiddies will never know!

Print friendly version for sticking on the fridge: Spaghetti Bolognese by The Ketchup War!

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