simple but tasy bolognes? Mine just doesn't taste 'right'?

Question

I love bolognes, so do my kids, but when I make it myself from scratch, it just doesn't tase right. Help please

Answer 1

Are you adding enough seasoning and herbs like oregano and basil? Also add tomato puree to give it more of a kick.
I'm not sure what to suggest because you haven't said how you normally make it.

Answer 2

Bolognese sauce
Serves 4
Preparation time less than 30 mins
Cooking time 30 mins to 1 hour


Ingredients
225g/8oz minced beef
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
1 green pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed
125g/4oz smoked bacon lardons
1 tbsp mixed dried herbs
400g/14oz tinned tomatoes
150ml/5fl oz red wine
salt and pepper



Method
1. Heat a non-stick frying pan and add half the mince. Cook over a high heat to colour the meat, breaking up any lumps with the back of a fork. Repeat with the rest of the mince and drain off any fat.
2. Heat the oil in another large pan and cook the onion, carrot and green pepper until they start to soften.
3. Stir in the garlic, bacon lardons and the herbs and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Stir in the tomatoes and the wine and season well.
5. Add the mince and simmer gently for 40-50 minutes until thick. Use to make lasagne or serve with pasta.

Personally I would leave out the garlic as the smell and taste make me feel sick bu that's a matter of preference. If you are American Miced beef is ground beef and bacon lardons are small pieces of chopped bacon.

Answer 3

I make a really big pot of mine and then freeze some. I chop up about 1kg of onions and a big packet of mushrooms, 2 or 3 peppers and several gloves of garlic and fry them off. Then add 500g mince (you can add more mince and less veg if you prefer) along with 2 beef oxo cubes. Add 2 or 3 tins or tomatoes and simmer for a while. To season it I add a few spoonfulls of tomato cup-a-soup powder (you can get the big jars of powder, which is great cos you can use just as much as you like) then a good shake of oregano and some black pepper. If I have any in the house I add a couple of splashes of red wine. Although both the oxo and soup have salt in them it's not as much as jar of sauce. this normally makes about 10 portions in less than an hour and freezes really well. Depending on your kids tastes vary the veg, possibly add peas or carrots.

Answer 4

1/2 lb mince
1 onion
6 mushrooms
Tsp oil and tsp butter

Piece of hard cheese grated finely

Sauce
large tin tomatoes or some soft skinned cooked tomatoes
glass red wine
pinch salt and black pepper
tsp basil, oregano and parsley
clove of garlic crushed

Make the sauce by whizzing with a blender.
melt butter and oil in large pan and add chopped onions stirr and cook slowly until soft but not brown.
As mushrooms and stir, add minced meat and fry everything gently for a few minutes (you can add a bit of garlic here as well if you like it).
Pour over the sauce and simmer slowly if it looks a little thick add a cup full of water or vegetable stock.
I then pop mine in the oven on medium whilst the spaghetti cooks.
Put dried spaghetti in a large pan full of boiling water and boil until soft.
Drain and serve immediately with the sauce poured over and topped with cheese.

I also add peppers some times and omit the meat for veggies

Answer 5

Fry off an onion in a tbs of olive oil and brown the mince, drain in a colander to remove excess fat.
Return to heat and add a can of chopped tomatoes and a tbs of tomatoe puree.
Stir in about 10 chopped mushrooms (optional) and a crushed clove of garlic and a tsp of mixed herbs.
Simmer on a moderate heat for 25-30 mins.
For an extra kick add a tsp of chilli powder half way through cooking.
If the sauce looks too thick add a small amont of water and reduce heat further, if it looks too thin increase heat and cook without a lid on a fairly high heat to allow sauce to reduce.

Answer 6

It is probably the cooking time that is wrong. Italians often cook bolognese for several hours. Also a true Italian meat sauce should be 50% minced pork and 50% minced beef, although there are regional variations, for example some Italians will add milk to the sauce at the end of cooking in some areas.

Answer 7

Add to the mince and onion red wine, some water, plenty of tomato puree, garlic, oregano, bay leaf, salt and pepper and cook it very slowly in the oven - about 3 hours at 140 c.
Slow cooking and wine make the biggest difference. Tinned tomatoes sometimes leave a bitter taste, so I prefer using tomato puree. Add some basil at the end if you like it.
(The alcohol in the wine burns off, so it won't harm the kids).

Answer 8

simple 'ragu', tastes almost the same as bolognese, easy to make. obviously play about with these ingredients if you like more/less garlic or sugar or whatever. all you need is:

olive oil
garlic
jar of passata
mince beef
basil

-finely chop 2 cloves garlic
-fry in olive oil gently until they are very slightly golden, just cooked
-add minced beef and cook until browned

-add cup of red wine if you like and simmer for a couple of minutes more!

-whether you added the wine or not, add in a nice big jar of tomato 'passata' turn heat right down, cover and simmer for minimum of an hour to get the meat really nice and tender.

-add salt, pepper to taste at the end and tear up a nice handful of fresh basil and stir it in.

if the taste is bland, add more salt, if it is tangy, add sugar, just adjust seasoning to how you like it.

once you have perfected this you can add carrots, celery, pancetta (which is basically like smoked bacon in cubes), and onions too which will pretty much make it a 'bolognese'.

good luck

Answer 9

I'm really sorry. I'm in the same predicament as you. I've tried so many recipes to make from scratch as my hubby hates jarred sauces, but no joy. All I do know is that a traditional Italian bolognaise should have minced chicken livers and celery, carrots, red/white wine, beef stock, onion, garlic and fresh tomatoes and tom puree. oh and oregano and basil I think.
Maybe look out for any recipes that contain mostly these ingredients and try it.
Good luck my friend, if you have any joy let me know!

Answer 10

My favourite way is to:

Fry beef mince adding oxo cube, oregano, onions and mushrooms.

Add 2 or 3 cloves of garlic and half a bottle of red wine(!)

Add tomato puree and tin of chopped tomatoes with a pinch of sugar.

Leave to simmer while spaghetti cooks, adding more red wine as required(!)

Serve covered in grated cheese with a springe of black pepper or paprika.

I also like to add bacon, celery, carrot, red or green peppers, a little paprika or cayenne pepper.

If making if for kids obviously leave out the wine but for anyone like me and my house mates the more red wine, garlic and cayenne pepper the better. Oh and cheese you can never have too much cheese.

Answer 11

My partner is Italian and he makes it from scratch always too.

First cook the minced meat in a pan. Fry onions until golden and then add it together with the minced meat. Cook for a little bit.

Add tinned tomatoes and vegetable stock. Put on low heat, cover the pan and simmer for at least 45 minutes as the longer you cook it the more tender the meat becomes and the more flavour there is. Add salt as needed.

He does not basil or oregano, the simpler the better.

Hope it works, enjoy :)