Spaghetti Bolognese
It's been something of a big week, so by the time we got to cooking dinner this evening (after a week and a half of gallivanting around the country speaking at various events) the last thing I wanted to do was try something new.
So I went old school and made spag bol as I've been making it for years (but optimised for damn quick straight-to-the-plate action).
The recipe:
Heat a deep fry pan while peeling one brown onion. Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil once it's hot enough and dice the onion. Reduce the heat on the fry pan to medium and add the onion. Give it a shimmy and a shake periodically when it starts to stick until it starts to go all translucent and glimmery.
Then I shredded 500-600g of beef mince (but you can use lamb, or even pork) into the pan by hand, and cranked the heat. As the meat is almost all browned, add a solid sprinkle of sea salt, a significant amount of coarsely ground black pepper and a couple of teaspoons of dried basil (or 3-4 fresh basil leaves, if you have them).
Put a large saucepan full of water on to boil. Once the meat is fully browned, add a 375g tin of peeled whole tomatoes and mix it in well. Reduce to simmer.
Add a sprinkle of the sea salt to the water for flavour and add the spaghetti.
Stir both pasta and sauce as necessary.
Once the pasta is cooked, pour through a colander and shake thoroughly to clear the water out. Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and toss to distribute it evenly.
Serve the spaghetti, add the sauce on top and then cover with grated parmigiano reggiano to taste.
Tonight's effort was pretty stock standard for us. This is one of the four dishes we had on repeat that encouraged me to start experimenting. That doesn't mean it's not tasty. It's just that it's not very exciting!
What do you cook that has turned into a staple rather than an adventure?