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 favourite freezer-cooking recipe. I can buy the ground beef cheap at Safeway or Costco 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 cup of beef stock (gluten free – if making it gluten free)
1 clove of garlic, crushed
2 cans of whole 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
1tsp of Italian Seasoning
1/2 tsp ground fennel
Salt and pepper to taste
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, Italian Seasoning, tomatoes, puree and stock.
5. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for up to 2 hours, stirring often to crush up the tomatoes. For the last 30 minutes, simmer without the lid to reduce.
Serve with spaghetti or tagliatelle (GF if needed), grated Parmesan (if not DF) or chilli flakes (The Canadian One’s condiment of choice).
Freezer Friendly: This freezes so well – Allow the meat to cool, the divide into individual portions and freeze. The just defrost, reheat and add noodles for a quick weekday meal!
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!
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