Bolognaise Sauce for Pasta

This recipe is part of Take the Pantry and Freezer Challenge series on this blog, and I made this in Week 2 of the challenge.

As with most recipes that I’ve posted as part of this challenge, I make this meal quite often too. I know that there are probably thousands of Bolognaise sauce recipes out there but I decided to share mine anyway. It’s simple. It’s affordable. It doesn’t take a whole lot of ingredients and it tastes delicious. We enjoy it and we don’t get tired of it!

I sometimes substitute a portion of the minced meat with soya mince. Because of the spices and the amount of time it takes to cook you can hardly taste the difference between ground beef and the soya mince. I also often don’t cook using the Bolognaise cook-in sauces (powder sachets) – I simply used them this time as I was trying to use up items in the pantry this month. I usually add carrots to the Bolognaise sauce but again, as I was trying to use up items from the freezer, I used the butternut and baby marrow strips instead.

Ingredients:

1.5 kg Mince Meat

(You can substitute some of this amount with Soya mince)

3 Onions, finely chopped

6 Carrots, peeled and grated

4-5 cloves Garlic, minced

½ cup Parsley, finely chopped

1 tin Tomato & Onion mix

2 tins Whole Tomatoes

(You can substitute with 3 mugs homemade Tomato Sauce)

2 Tsp. Paprika

1 Tsp. Peppadew spice

1 Tsp. Steak & Chops spice

½ Tsp. Cayenne pepper

1 sachet Tomato Puree

5 Tbsp. Oil

Salt, Pepper and Aromat to taste

2 packets Bolognaise Cook-in Sauce

Or

3 Tbsp. Maizena or Cake Flour to thicken

Method:

For this quantity of meat I use a large 6-litre stock pot.

Fry the onions and garlic in oil until golden brown. Add the carrots and fry for a few more minutes, stirring frequently. Add the minced meat and brown for about 15-20 minutes, stirring frequently and adding a bit of water if necessary. Then add salt, pepper, Aromat, paprika, peppadew, steak & chops spice, cayenne pepper and parsley. Now add the whole tomatoes, tomato and onion mix and tomato puree. Mix well and top with hot water. You should add as much water as you would like at this stage, taking into consideration that some of it will evaporate as the sauce cooks and you might need to add a bit more as needed.

Cook on moderately high heat for about an hour and a half. When the Bolognaise sauce is just about done, stir in the Bolognaise cook-in sauce packets and cook for a few minutes. If you are using Maizena or cake flour to thicken, dilute the Maizena/flour in a bit of water to form a pourable, lump-free paste, add to the sauce and cook for a few minutes until the sauce thickens. Enjoy!

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