Cooking with Toasteh: Spag Bol with a kick

I have seen carrot in lots of spagbol recipes but never tried it. It just seems wrong to put carrot in. Also seen celery in a few recipes, again another veg i wouldn't have thought would work in a spagbol. I might give it a try some time as I tend to make it the same each time, so would it would be good to try something different.

I usually put an oxo cube in there and some Hendersons Relish/ Worcester sauce. Also a splash of red wine if we have any adds a nice flavour.
 
It's a mirepoix (celery, onion, carrot) a base flavour mix for many recipes. French orgin for the name, but most old spam Bol recipes have this base for the aromatics..
Would love to find an old or even the oldest spam Bol recipe. I doubt it would be like what we are used to.
I did find an article about tirramasu which had the oldest knowen recipe in it. I would love a book on this subject. I think the original recipes can give you a fascinating insight into how they wanted the dish to tasty and the texture.

The base of Bolognese sauce is a soffrito, an assortment of aromatic and flavorful vegetables such as celery, onions, and carrots fried in olive oil and butter. Next, chunks of meat such as beef and pancetta are added to the soffrito to brown. A dash of milk or cream is added and the mixture is briefly stirred before white wine is poured in and the sauce is allowed to reduce, concentrating the flavor and creating a rich broth. Next, tomato paste and stock are added, along with a dash of butter and salt. The Bolognese sauce is stirred and then simmered gently until the meat breaks down.
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Definitely going to try the celery and carrot next time.

Is pancetta worth adding? Never tied that either, but have diced up some smoked back bacon before and it was nice.
 
Smoked bacon is a very good alternative if you don't have pancetta.

Finely dice the veg, if possible use something like beef short ribs or skirt steak, then cook till its falling to bits for a more authentic approach.

Right earlist recipes appears to be in this book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Science-Kit...TF8&colid=243PHTF8RPVKL&coliid=I24IRLJW0SKFN1

Not sure I fancy paying £25 for one recipe.

Found the tirramasu recipe again. I feel an Italian meal coming up.

http://www.annamariavolpi.com/tiramisu_le_beccherie.html
The first and original recipe as printed
by the gourmet Giuseppe maffioli in 1981

The first known recipe for the original Tiramisu from the restaurant Le Beccherie was published in an issue of Vin Veneto magazine printed in the Spring of 1981. This is the earliest known recipe for TIRAMISU. There is no previous record of another TIRAMISU recipe.

1 -1/2 cups (360 cc) espresso coffee
2 teaspoons sugar
4 egg yolks
1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
1 lb (450 g) mascarpone cheese at room temperature
30 savoiardi (ladyfinger cookies)
2 tablespoons bitter cocoa powder
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That tiramisu recipe looks good. However, I find that substituting madeira cake (cut into slices then light toasted or dry-fried to caramelise the outside) really improves any tiramisu :)
 
I always try and let my sauce simmer (on as low heat as possible) for a good hour at least - the longer the better - you get more flavour (IMO).

However this is the recipe I follow - if you don't speak italian you can put it through google translate. :)

http://ricette.giallozafferano.it/Ragu-alla-bolognese.html

It needs stock, wine, milk and tomato puree and a mix of pork and beef. And cook for a long time. Those are the key aspects for the sauce. Carrot celery and onions are of course required.

Dolmio? Really? In "La Cuisine"????
 
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I always simmer mine for a long time too. I also try to make it in the morning and leave it to sit until evening and then reheat, i find this helps the flavour and the consistency.

Never tried milk in it. I'll have to give it a try since it seems to be part of the original ingredients.
 
I made a bolognaise tonight using the celery and carrot and it was amazing! Can't believe I have never made it this way before. It was thicker and tastier and the added veg can only be a good thing.

This is the recipe I use. Lots of ingredients compared to the authentic recipe, but everyone loves it and goes for seconds, so i'll stick with it.

500g minced steak
3 rashers smoked back bacon
1 cup red wine
3 cloves garlic
2 onions diced
1 celery finely diced
1 carrot finely diced
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
2 mushrooms
2 tins chopped tomatoes
2 heaped tbs tom puree
2 oxo cubes + 50ml hot water
splash of hendersons relish (Worcester sauce)
2 bay leaves, oregano and basil
1/4 tsp hot chilli powder
1 tsp brown sugar
salt and pepper
 
I love debate around spagbol there are so many different histories and versions it must surely be the most messed about with recipe of all time.

For me the biggest thing the OP got wrong for cooking a traditional Spagbol was putting in chilli at that point it pretty much instantly becomes a chilli con carne surely?

The traditional recipes definitely include quite a lot of veg which is really common in Italian cooking as traditionally veg was cheap and meat an expensive luxury it was only once people become richer particularly Italians who had moved to America (where our current spagbol probably has it's origins)

Basically do what ever you like and call it what you want.
 
Anyone who adds Dolmio or Ragu to make their bolognese needs to stop it! Euurgghh!

Best spag bol ever:

500g steak mince
1 tin chopped tomatoes
300ml beef stock
125ml red wine
2 cloves frech garlic
2 tbs balsamic vineager
1/2 tsp of sugar
1 large onion
2 tsp Oregano
2 tbs fresh torn Basil leaves
Small pack cubed panceta (around 125g I think).
Cheese of choice to top (if desired). My fav is Parmesan grated off the block at the mo.
Salt and pepper

Roughly chop the onion and garlic (can be crushed) and cook on a medium heat in some garlic oil with and oregano (dried is fine) until it all starts to soften after a few minutes. Add the panceta at this time and cook for a further 3-5 mins.

Chuck in the mince and brown off with everything, adding some salt and pepper. If you've used crap mince you might need to drain the fat off. Usually good quality meat won't yield too much and in any case what it does give off should burn off in the browning process.
Throw in the tinned tomatoes, beef stock, balsamic vineagar, red wine, sugar and one tbs of the torn basil leaves.

Mix very well until you get it simmering.

Let everything cook off for quite a while on a low heat, stirring every ten mins or so.

Cook the spaghetti and toss in a little garlic oil and black pepper when you see the sauce getting reasonably thick - after about 45-60 mins. Also add the other tbs of Basil to the sauce while the spaghetti cooks.

Serve as usual with cheese on top (if desired).

This is not a quick one by any means but it's absolutely delicious. Yum.
 
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Glaucus said:
Smoked bacon is a very good alternative if you don't have pancetta.

Finely dice the veg, if possible use something like beef short ribs or skirt steak, then cook till its falling to bits for a more authentic approach.

Right earlist recipes appears to be in this book
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Science-Kit...TF8&colid=243PHTF8RPVKL&coliid=I24IRLJW0SKFN1

Not sure I fancy paying £25 for one recipe.

Found the tirramasu recipe again. I feel an Italian meal coming up.
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Well I ended up buying the book

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So going to do a many course meal with this book, some really interesting recipes.
 
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If i'm making a spag bol, i'll start with the Soffritto and then add some Pancetta. The other counter intuitive ingredients added are Chicken Livers and Milk. This all goes towards lifting the flavour of the Beef mince. It's a Meat sauce, not a Tomato one.
 
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