Friday, May 27, 2011

Jamie's Spaghetti Bolognese, Thank You, Brenda!

Today's post is specially dedicated to the lovely Brenda of Brenda's Canadian Kitchen. Brenda had a giveaway over at her fabulous blog a few weeks ago and she has chosen three lucky winners. And I am happy beyond words that I'm one of the lucky winners! We got to choose between two books, either Rachael Ray's Look+Cook or Jamie's Food Revolution. Since I already have Look+Cook, I chose Jamie's Food Revolution.

Thank you, Brenda 


Jamie's Food Revolution arrived at my doorstep six days later! Wow, that was super quick! I was so excited and did not expect it to arrive so soon! Thank you, Brenda! I really, really love this book! There are lots of exciting and delicious recipes that are just waiting to be tried out. I was unable to make up my mind over which recipe to try out first, so I asked my son to choose, and he chose Spaghetti Bolognese. He has chosen a winner! This is so good and my kids have requested me to cook this again! 



Look at the delicious sauce. This recipe serves 4-6, and Jamie has suggested that even if you are cooking for two, make a full recipe and freeze the balance. Now that is a good idea. I'm gonna make another batch of this  to freeze for later, it will make a great after school lunch and good for days when I'm lazy to be in the kitchen for hours! 



I'm so grateful to Brenda for this fantastic book. I love Jamie's down to earth and casual style approach into making each recipe seems so easy. Reading this book is just like having Jamie telling you in the friendliest and most casual way of understanding the recipe. I have not tried any of Jamie's recipes except for a roast chicken ages ago, and definitely this won't be the last. He has this "Pass It On Pledge" movement where he encourages you to cook at least one recipe from each chapter and pass it on to at least two other people, and I think that is really nice. 



Every recipe comes with a picture and he has included step-by-step photographs for most recipes. Isn't that great! 


Yummy!


Give this a try, I'm sure that you will love it!

I'm sharing this with
Full Plate Thursday over at Miz Helen's Country Cottage
Recipe Swap Thursday over at Prairie Story
I Heart Cooking Clubs "Mad About Herbs - Jamie Oliver"

Bolognese Sauce
(adapted from "Jamie's Food Revolution" by Jamie Oliver)
Serves 4-6
2 slices of smoked bacon, preferably free-range or organic (I use about 8 medium pieces of streaky bacon)
2 medium onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
olive oil
2 heaped teaspoons dried oregano
1 pound good-quality ground beef, pork, or (even better!) a mixture of the two
2 x 14-ounce cans of diced tomatoes
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a small bunch of fresh basil
4 ounces Parmesan cheese
1 pound dried spaghetti or penne


To make your sauce :
Finely slice the bacon. Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, carrots, and celery - don't worry about technique, just chop away until fine.
Place a large casserole-type pan on a medium to high heat. Add 2 lugs of olive oil, your sliced bacon, and the oregano and cook and stir until the bacon is lightly golden. Add the vegetables to the pan and stir every 30 seconds for around 7 minutes or until softened and lightly colored.
Stir in the ground meat and the canned tomatoes. Fill one of the empty cans with water and add to the pan. Stir in a good pinch of salt and pepper.
Pick the basil leaves and place in the refrigerator for later. Finely chop the basil stalks and stir into the pan.
Bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer with the lid slightly askew for 1 hour; stirrring every now and then.
Take the lid off and cook for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Keep an eye on the sauce as it cooks, and if you think it's starting to dry out, add a splash of water.
Remove the Bolognese sauce from the heat. Finely grate the Parmesan and stir half into the sauce.
Tear and stir in any larger basil leaves, keeping the smaller ones for sprinkling over before serving. Mix up, have a taste, and season with a little more salt and pepper if needed - congratulations! You now have a beautiful Bolognese sauce. At this stage you can allow it to cool, bag it up and freeze it, or eat it straightaway with the pasta below.

To cook your pasta and serve :
Bring a large pan of salted water to a boil. Add your pasta and stir, following the package cooking times - don't let it cook any longer or it will become too soft - you want it to have a bit of bite. Saving a little of the cooking times, drain the pasta in a colander. Put the drained pasta back into the pan. Add half the Bolognese sauce to the cooked pasta and mix well, adding a little of the reserved cooking water to loosen. Divide between your plates and spoon the remaining sauce over the top. Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle over the rest of the Parmesan, and scatter with the small basil leaves - bellissima!


"bellissima", in Italian, means beautiful! (I googled for the meaning  :)  )
Yes, indeed, this is a beautiful sauce!

39 comments:

  1. mouthwatering sauce indeed, justified name. Congrats on your win. Enjoy :-)

    Deepa
    Hamaree Rasoi

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  2. Joy, it was so fun to see your name as one of the winners! Now that the book is in your hands, I know you will use it well!!! That sauce looks delicious, thanks for the recipe, I love the ingredient list, and I have a small spot in the freezer for a hidden away package of sauce.

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  3. Mmmm...I've had my eye on this bolognese for a while. It looks and sounds delicious. What a wonderful prize---this is such a fantastic book. I hope you get lots of great use out of it!

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  4. Nice swag! Giveaways are they best :) This recipe looks outstanding so I can't wait to see what else you pull out from Jamie's book!

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  5. The only Jaime recipe I've tried is a roast chicken where he slathered butter underneath the skin. It was fantastic, so I have no problem going with the flow on this recipe. Yours turned out great!

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  6. Jamie is my platonic love I think!! I love him!
    Look amazing I have to make this recipe, gloria

    http://canelakitchen.blogspot.com

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  7. nice! i'm a big fan of Jamie :P

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  8. Wonderful platter, feel like finishing it..Love Jamie:)..

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  9. Aww! Congrats on winning new cookbooks are always so fun :) that bolognese looks good. You son picked well :) thanks for coming to link up. Have a great weekend!

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  10. Surely a perfect recipe. the pictures are beautiful, very well presented. Have a great weekend. Regards, Marta.

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  11. I love spaghetti bolognese, the recipe sounds really good! And how lucky that you got that book, congratz :D)!

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  12. I am a big fan of Jamie's n this recipe sounds really cool! Congrtas on you win ~ Enjoy cooking with your new book!
    US Masala

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  13. Ooohhhhh congrats! I love Jamie! I have been eying on this recipe book for a while...Lucky you :)

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  14. This sounds delicious and his recipes rarely disppoint. I'll be trying this next cool day we have. I hope you have a great weekend. Blessings...Mary

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  15. Una exquisita receta muy sabrosa ,felicitaciones por tu premio,ya sabes querida que cocinas muy bien,,buen libro,cariños y abrazos.

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  16. Yummy spaghetti .. congrats on winning the book :)

    Vardhini
    VardhinisKitchen

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  17. I haven't tried making a bolognese...I keep telling myself it is a must do. I am going to try this. Thanks!

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  18. Joy, I'm so happy you loved your first recipe out of this cookbook. I just made my first bolognese a couple of weeks ago. I have no doubt this one is just as good, if not better, than the one I made. Enjoy your book my friend, looking forward to more great recipes from it!

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  19. Yum Yum..my fav cook of all-time - Jamie Oliver! I envy u. I made spaghetti too last nite but not Jamie Oliver. Simply cooked one with tom yam flavor.

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  20. Wow,delicious n yummy recipe.Wav, Jamie Oliver's recipe you won,great.....

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  21. Congrats on the win, it's a great book! The spaghetti looks delicious!

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  22. congrats on being the winner..i like jamie oliver, he's quite good cook!!!

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  23. Yummmm! Delicious recipe and congrats on winning!

    Last week I cooked your fried fish with chilly paste and all my family and me loved it a lot!

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  24. Lucky you! The pasta looks scrumptious.

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  25. Congratulations on your prize :) The sauce is a wonderful classic and a favorite of my families...sounds like a great book :)

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  26. Congrats on your win! The recipe looks and sounds delicious!

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  27. I love a warm plate of pasta any day and this sure looks good. well done.

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  28. This looks so good! I love his recipes- you're so lucky to win the cookbook. :)

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  29. It looks good, so it must taste good too!

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  30. Congrats on winning the book... and what a tasty looking spaghetti... we have just also tried cooking spaghetti, with fava beans...

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  31. I love Jamie Oliver! I just picked up one of his books from the library and can't wait to go through it. This looks delicious!

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  32. Your pasta looks delicious. ;-) Jamie's Food Revolution has turned out to be one of my favorite cookbooks. I am sure you will find lots more recipes to enjoy like this one.

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  33. Hi Joy,
    This looks so yummy. I really like that bacon in the recipe to give it a very special flavor. Thanks for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and come back soon!

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  34. My dear friend
    I know this sef of television.
    Thank you for nice recipe !!!
    Many kisses

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  35. Bookmarked this recipe right away! Going to try this anytime soon an going to make the full batch, so i can put half in the freezer for a lazy day.

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  36. Oh, Joy, I'm so thrilled you won this great prize - everyone should own at least one Jamie Oliver book, and this looks like a great one to have on your bookshelf. Also what a great pick you made for your first dish from this book. Spaghetti Bolognese is always a winner, and I'm dying to try this version. Freezing some for another day is definitely a great idea.
    Sue xo

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  37. I'm so glad to hear you won the book from Brenda (who is a total sweetheart) and that you chose to play along with us at IHCC. Spaghetti Bolognese is one of my favorite things to prepare and yes, I always make the whole batch (or even sometimes double the batch). I think Jamie's version looks gorgeous. Great pick!

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  38. I couldn't resist commenting. Perfectly written!

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