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!