What do you put in spag bol?

[Amyw Profile]

Now I’m not talking about a lovingly hours long simmered Italian Ragu , but a good old Anglo Italian spag bol . I was talking to my housemates the other day and they were saying they don’t like all the “rubbish” that people put in spag bol . This transpired to be peppers , mushrooms etc . They just cook mince , onions , garlic , passata and Worcestershire sauce plus mixed herbs .

I used to love spag bol . Would always include mushrooms and peppers in there . Quite often start with a soffrito of carrot, celery and onion . What do you put in yours ?

[Grasshopper Profile]

Our basic recipe is mince (usually beef), onions, tinned tomatos & seasoning, BUT other things are usually added, depending on what we have and the whim of the cook. Such items include mushrooms, peppers, spinach, carrot, and even mixed vegetables.


Grasshopper

[Suelle Profile Website]

I always use onions and celery, but not always carrots - sometimes little orange cubes just don't look right!

Tinned tomatoes, tomato purée, herbs, 1/2 a stock cube, Worcestershire sauce, a few chilli flakes and maybe a little soy sauce at the end if it needs more seasoning.

These days, as part of reducing my meat consumption, I often pad it out with red lentils.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I’m more inclined to make an Italian ragù, but basic sofrito leaving out celery and/or carrots if theare aren’t around or I don’t fancy them; garlic ; a little bacon if I have some, very finely diced; mince; some form of tomato; splash of wine if there’s any open; possibly mushrooms If I have any; never peppers. Plenty of seasoning including Worcestershire

[Amyw Profile]

Forgot to add my base sauce is passata , slug of red wine , garlic , seasoning and dried oregano plus a bay leaf if I have it to hand .

[Gillthepainter Profile Website]

I just use:

half beef mince, half pork mince
one bottle white wine
one large bottle of passata.

Cook for 1hr30 plus on the hob. It's melt in your mouth tender.

Carluccio made it this way on Sat Kitchen years ago. He said you can add garlic if you wish.

[northleedsbhoy Profile]

It depends on how lovingly I want it or how quick. If the latter then it’s just mince, onion, garlic granules and a bottle of ragu sauce. If I take my time then I’ll experiment with various ingredients other than mince, onion, tinned tomatoes/passata and garlic.

Cheers
NLB

[Earthmaiden Profile]

If it's not a lovingly prepared ragu then it really can range on the scale between that and mince & veg with the addition of tomato all under the same label I think! (I have mentioned before that I once was invited to stay for a spaghetti bol lunch which consisted of mince and spaghetti drowned in tomato ketchup!).

For something quite decent my base would be similar to most mentioned here. Onion, garlic and mushrooms always and red wine if I was cooking for guests. Other veg takes it down the scale a bit but anything cut up quite small tastes nice - I prefer fennel to celery. I am very fond of adding fennel seeds but wouldn't if I was serving guests. The recipe I was brought up with had the addition of finely chopped chicken livers.

[Hickybank Profile]

I have been making mine this way for years.

Bolognese Sauce
500g beef mince
650g onions
4 X 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
200g tomato concentrate
1 teaspoon each: salt, pepper, paprika, sambal oelek (hot chilli)
2 tablespoons oregano
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon honey
1 glass (125ml) red wine
splash of worcester sauce
Fry onions in olive oil. Add mince and fry until crumbly. Add all the rest and simmer for an hour or so without lid until it reduces.

[sunflower Profile]

I put grated carrot so it blends into the sauce.
Love spicy food I like adding a dollop of Korean pepper paste gochujang to enhance the red colour and gives a kick.

[Lokelani Profile]

Mine evolves, but currently contains:

50% of two minces, usually beef & pork but sometimes veal if I have any in the freezer
Pancetta cubes
Onion
Garlic
Carrot - usually but not always
Celery - if I have any in
Mushrooms - if I have any
Tomato puree
Red wine
Beef stock pot, I used to use chicken stock, not sure why, but a few years ago changed back to beef
Glug of milk - not sure what recipe this came from but I've been adding it for years

If it's for a special occasion I put a bit of butter in, as that was in Antonio Carluccio's recipe, but only if I've got quite low fat mince. For me the most important bit is the mountain of parmesan I grate on at the end.
The other thing that evolves is the order I brown & cook things in. Currently pancetta cubes, then onions, then garlic, make a hole in the centre & cook out the tom puree a bit. Those out, then meat in to brown, then add rest back & all the liquids.

[Pepper Pig Profile]

I always add a bit of milk because someone famous reckoned it made it better. It does. Another one who adds chicken livers here too.

[Earthmaiden Profile]

I'd forgotten about milk - yes! The recipe with milk, chicken livers etc could have been Elizabeth David, I'll have to have a look.

[Stokey Sue Profile]

I'd forgotten about milk - yes! The recipe with milk, chicken livers etc could have been Elizabeth David, I'll have to have a look.

But I’d cal, that “proper ragù” - not spag bol

[Amyw Profile]

Mine evolves, but currently contains:

50% of two minces, usually beef & pork but sometimes veal if I have any in the freezer
Pancetta cubes
Onion
Garlic
Carrot - usually but not always
Celery - if I have any in
Mushrooms - if I have any
Tomato puree
Red wine
Beef stock pot, I used to use chicken stock, not sure why, but a few years ago changed back to beef
Glug of milk - not sure what recipe this came from but I've been adding it for years

If it's for a special occasion I put a bit of butter in, as that was in Antonio Carluccio's recipe, but only if I've got quite low fat mince. For me the most important bit is the mountain of parmesan I grate on at the end.
The other thing that evolves is the order I brown & cook things in. Currently pancetta cubes, then onions, then garlic, make a hole in the centre & cook out the tom puree a bit. Those out, then meat in to brown, then add rest back & all the liquids.

I’ve done a Nigel Slater recipe before when he added milk and it was lovely . Often forget to do it though as it doesn’t stick in my head as something that “goes “with spag bol

[liketocook Profile]

I seldom make a quick version preferring instead to make a vat of ragu then freeze the surplus.
I picked up the milk tip from the "Good Food" show on the BBC back in the 1990s and have used it ever since.
While proportions will vary my basic is:
Onion/celery/carrot
Garlic
Wine glass of milk
Wine glass of red wine or vermouth
Mince (usually a mix of pork & beef but sometimes just beef) or brown/green lentils for a veggie version
Passatta or blitzed plum tomatoes
Oregano
Thyme
Good pinch of sugar
Splosh of mushroom ketchup
Tomato puree
Salt & pepper

[Uschi Profile]

The German variety,also called "Nudelschlampampe" in my house is onions, mince, tomatoes (tin or concentrated) and herbs with a good slug of olive oil, at its most basic. I prefer a higher vegetable content, though, so corn, peppers, mushrooms, courgettes or aubergines are added. I also like a good slug of red wine and some feta cheese or grated parmesan with it.
Ultimately it is more of a stew than a sauce.

[MagicMarmite Profile]

I made the last one I did with a jar, because I got three in my government food box, it was actually fine.
I'd use a jar again for a weeknight spag bol, completely different to when I make ragu.

[cherrytree Profile]

This is interesting because on last Saturday’s ‘Kitchen Cabinet’ on Radio 4 they were discussing this very thing. I was quite relieved that the recipe I use almost matched one of the contributor’s .
I use a recipe from an ancient copy of the BBC Good Food magazine.
I use minced beef and pork, carrots, celery, onions, garlic high end tinned tomatoes, full fat milk, and red wine( apparently it should be white).
I make a large quantity in my jam pan, cook it for hours and freeze it now about 150g packs.

[Wic Profile]

I’ve never thought of adding milk, this is the first time I’ve come across putting it in a spag Bol. What sort of effect does it have?