#ewew cooks Beef Bolognese Pasta

I remember reading the instructions on the bottle of tomato puree I bought...once opened, keep refrigerated and consume within two days.  I did try...I first used it to make Cottage Pie and, two days later, I made Vegetables & Tomato Soup with it.

But after having a tomato-based meal twice in a week (and more in the week ahead from the portions I kept frozen, for my own consumption, since my family is not into any tomato-based recipes), I had enough and didn't want to make a third recipe with tomato puree again.  I was still left with about one cup of unused tomato puree.  So, I just kept it in the fridge to see what would happen.  If it gets mouldy, I'll just throw it away (that has happened before with store-bought pasta sauces, some even before expiry date!).

And three weeks later, I was ready for more tomato-based meals.  I checked the tomato puree and found it to be not only free from any mould but still in pristine condition.  So, I thought I'd make Beef Bolognese Pasta with the leftover tomato puree. 

This was my first attempt at making bolognese sauce from scratch without relying on a ready-made store-bought pasta sauce.  Let's see how it went.

Ingredients:

1 pkt minced beef (about 260g)

1 small carrot, fine dice

1 large onion, fine dice

1 pkt cherry tomatoes (about 30)

3 cloves of garlic, finely minced

1 tsp (dry) mixed herbs

1 tsp dried parsley

1 cup tomato puree

1 cup water

Salt and (freshly cracked) black pepper to taste

Preparation:

This recipe is pretty simple to execute except you may have a bit of chopping, dicing and mincing to do (with the onions, carrots and garlic).  Arm yourself with a good knife for this purpose.  I'm one of those lazy people who likes to resort to one all-purpose knife to cut everything (and for me it's the santoku knife) though, at times, I have to admit it's not the most ideal especially when slicing bread.

But, if you're planning to invest in a new set of knifes, view warmchef.com for a better understanding of the different knives available and their specific uses before making the plunge. ^_~

Now back to my pasta.  Although you can certainly add fresh tomatoes to your beef bolognese, I chose to do an extra step and roast them in the oven first.  I tossed them in olive oil seasoned with a sprinkling of sea salt and freshly cracked black pepper.

Bake at 200°C for 30 minutes.  I find roasting the tomatoes bring out the sweetness in them and make them that much more delicious.

Method:

Cook the beef mince for 3 minutes seasoned with 1/2 tsp mixed herbs, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper. Remove the cooked meat onto a plate.

Put in all the vegetables together with the garlic.  Saute them on medium low heat for 5 minutes (you just need to sweat the onions and soften the carrots a bit).  Season the vegetables with 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper.

Pour in 1 cup tomato puree and 1/2 cup water and simmer the mixture on low heat for 10 minutes to soften the vegetables further.

Put back the cooked minced beef and add a further 1/2 cup of water.

Season with another 1/4 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper.  At this point, do a taste test and adjust seasoning if necessary.  Cook that for a further 5 minutes.

Finally, add the roasted tomatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes to enable the tomatoes to cook down even further (you can break them up a bit if you like).  Test to see if the carrots are soft enough, otherwise give it a few more minutes.

Finish with a sprinkling of parsley (fresh if you have), otherwise dried parsley will do too (as is the case here).

Cook the pasta of your choice according to packet instructions (it can be spaghetti, linguine, angel hair or even any cute-shaped pasta).  Once done, toss that with the bolognese sauce.  Pour a bit of the water in which you cooked the pasta with into the sauce to bring the dish together.  Note that I've dished up the extra sauce and what's left is a portion suitable for one.

And there you have it.....my (almost) made-from-scratch Beef Bolognese Pasta with a little help from a good bottle of fresh tomato puree :)

I have to say that this is the best-tasting bolognese pasta I've made so far.  Before this, I've often relied on bottled pasta sauces and just amped up the flavours with more onions, garlic and fresh herbs.

I think the success of this bolognese sauce was down to the bottle of fresh tomato puree I bought this round (one which I've never used before).  The sauce turned out less acidic than previously made ones.

Maybe it was the sweetness of the juicy and chunky roasted cherry tomatoes that made a difference in making this the best bolognese pasta I've cooked.  I enjoyed eating this over some I've had at restaurants even...kekeke! *blowing own trumpet*

Best of all, the bolognese sauce keeps well frozen or in the fridge.  In fact, it tastes even better the next day when all the flavours mingled with each other during the night.  For lazy (or tiring) days, all I have to do is to reheat the sauce (and throw in some cooked pasta) and I'll have myself a warm meal that's ready in a jiffy.

If the pasta looks kinda short to you....well, it is...that's because I broke the strands into two (!) so that I can cook it in a small pan.  Yeah, I did that for convenience sake so that I don't have to use a large stock pan in order to submerge the long strands of pasta fully in the water.  If you only want to cook a small portion of pasta, it's pretty inconvenient, not to mention I hate having to wash a large pot, don't you?

I foresee using this bottle/brand of tomato puree more frequently now that I like the taste of it.  If you've never made a bolognese sauce from scratch, try it once (and with roasted tomatoes) and I'm sure you'll be quite delighted with the result of a homemade one.

Mine was just a simple recipe with carrots, onions and roasted tomatoes (it's all about the ease and quick recipes for me).  You can include more vegetables (celery, capsicum) and fresh herbs (thyme, oregano, basil, parsley) to make it an even better one.

Serves 3 (recipe is good enough for 3 portions of pasta...all for 'mua'....since no-one in my family likes tomato-based dishes)