Spaghetti Bolognese ala Elkay

My version of spaghetti is an adaptation of Bolognese and Neapolitan. As I love vegetables, I always add them to my spaghetti sauce. I also love a lot of sauce with my spaghetti.


My version lacks the fatty taste of beef as I always remove the fat from the beef and is a bit hot as I add more black pepper.


Ingredients:

• 375 gm spaghetti, boiled in hot water mixed with a tabsp of cooling oil till cooked (tender). Drain and set aside.
• 410 gm canned plum or Italian tomatoes, crushed or 2 cups tomato puree
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium brown onion, chopped finely
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 500 gm minced beef, precooked in 500 ml water, sieved and fat skimmed off. The resulting stock will be used in the gravy
• freshly ground black pepper and salt
• 1 tbsp mixed dried herbs comprising of oregano,basil,thyme, red bell peppers and parsley. You can use shredded fresh herbs if they are available.
• 1 carrot, diced
• 2 sticks celery, diced
• 5 tomatoes, diced
• mushrooms, coarsely shredded
• some grated cheese

Method

Sautee onions and garlic in olive oil and when withered, add in the beef stock, tomato puree or crushed tomatoes.Stir till the tomatoes are totally liquidified. Blend half of the cubed carrots, celery and tomatoes and add into the stock.Stir and add in the minced beef, salt and pepper. Finally add in the other half of the cubed vegetables and mushrooms. When they are cooked, sprinkle in the dried herbs.

Pour the sauce over the boiled spaghetti and add in grated cheese if preferred.

If you don't have the time you can use bottled spaghetti bolognese sauce bought from the supermarket instead of using tomato puree or canned tomatoes.