A Staple in Every Home: The Classic Spaghetti Bolognese
Jump to RecipeSpaghetti Bolognese is pretty much a staple in our house, and if hubby can eat Spagbol every night – he would. BELIEVE ME!!! I love it, because it is such a simple easy mid week meal to cook, especially if you are lazy, not in the mood for cooking, or have a ton of blogging to do. 🙂
However, the other day, when given a bottle of Terra Del Capo Sangiovese 2016, I felt that this beautiful wine needed a proper and authentic Spaghetti Bolognese! I mean we are talking Sangiovese – the King of Italian Cultivars!
I actually wrote a review article about the Terra Del Capo, however half way when I tried to save, wordpress/webhosting or whatever was just not saving it… 1 hour later the saving button was still turning. Sadly, I lost that article and just haven’t had the strength to rewrite!! 😭😡😡🤬
I’ll get there again…. on another day… but not today. Much further ado, back to the Spagbol!
Making real authentic spaghetti bolognese, is much of a difficult task, as I don’t have any Italian friends to help/guide me, I have never been to Italy to experience the real authentic Spaghetti Bolognese! The internet was actually no help at all. There are millions of recipes, all with their own versions.
In actual fact, Spagbol is basically a staple in everyone’s house around the globe – for years!!! I don’t even think the internet even knows what the original recipe is anymore, as it has become so corrupted with everyone’s own version.
Guardians of Italy’s culinary said Spagbol has mentioned that Spaghetti Bolognese has become an absolute abomination with additions of cream, mushroom, meatballs, tons of tomato, the usage of turkey mince and who knows what else…
So What Is the Real Spaghetti Bolognese?
Apparently Bolognese is a Ragu, which is a slow cooked meat sauce! You start off, by making a Sofrito (a mixture of carrots, celery and onions – finely chopped) sautéed with some EVOO ( and butter. Large chunks of veal is then seared on high heat to extract the Jus and colour the meat. The meat and it’s juices is then added to the Sofrito, white wine (white wine because veal is a much lighter meat than a full grown cow) to enhance the flavor of the meat. Finally, everything is left to simmer for hours, until the meat completely falls apart. That is it apparently! I think!
Hmmm looking at the above, mine is not quite there 🙈 but it is close enough…. I really hope. Sorry Itailian Mamma if it is not. Making do with what I can find!
Using normal beef mince, instead of veal – as finding veal is a scarcity in my little hometown. I also used smoked pork belly rashers instead of pancetta.
Again I am in a small town and finding ingredients that are other than not basic is a mission and a half to find!! Grrrrrrr – I would say that is my biggest disadvantage of staying in a small town, it sucks if you are a foodie!!
Then, instead of white wine I used red wine – the Terra Del Capo, Sangiovese. The say if you cook with a wine, you must use that same wine for drinking along with your meal.
Terra Del Capo Sangiovese
In a previous article I wrote about my favourite wines for Autumn and the Sangiovese 2016 from Terra Del Capo was in the mix. Personally, Sangiovese is one of my favourite red wine cultivars. I fell in love with it when I worked for Stellekaya. It was also the first time I heard of this particular cultivar! It was love at first sight.
The Terra Del Capo is produced by Anthonij Rupert and Sangiovese is one of Italy’s unique grape varietals. The name actual dervied from Sanguis Jovis which means the blood of Jupiter. What I love about Sangiovese is that it is earthy and light just like the Pinot Noir. I love that it is more on the Savoury notes than sweet.
One of the predominant flavours in a Sangiovese is sun-dried cherry tomatoes. Normally a Sangiovese is known for its acidity. What I love about the Terra Del Capo Sangiovese, is that it is well balanced and structured. 15 months in oak gives a hint of smokiness, you get the gorgeous earthiness and fruit flavours of cherries, raspberries and prunes. It is soft in terms of tannins.
Now you know why I wanted to make food that brings this wine proper justice. So enough yacking – herewith is my recipe…
Print Recipe
The Classic Spaghetti Bolognese
Ingredients
- 30 ml Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 60 ml Butter
- 2 Onions Peeled and diced
- 3 Celery Stalks Finely Chopped
- 5 Garlic Cloves Peeled and crushed
- 250 g Smoked Pork Belly Rashers / Pancetta Diced
- 1 kg Beef or Veal Mince
- 3 Carrots Peeled and diced
- 2 400g Tin Tomatoes
- 1 tsp Sea Salt
- 2 tsp Cracked Black Pepper
- 2 large Glasses of red wine (if using veal use a white wine like a chardonnay or chenin blanc)
- 1 Knorr Stock Pot
- 15 ml Smoked Paprika
- 30 ml Mixed Italian Herbs
Instructions
- Preheat Oven to 150°C
- Heat oil and butter in a heavy based saucepan and fry the bacon until golden over a medium heat
- Fry the pork belly rashers until nice and golden
- Add the onion, garlic and celery and saute until translucent and soft
- Add the mince – Fry until nice and brown
- Add the tomatoes, carrots, wine, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, herbs, and stock pot to the mince.
- Give a gentle stir
- Cover with a lid and place in the oven for 1½ hours (Stirring occasionally)
- You want the meat sauce to be rich and thickened and absolutely delicious
- Taste and season if necessary
- Cook Spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet (dried spaghetti we got it right down to 14min in total)
- Serve spaghetti, with a ladle of the meat sauce on top. Sprinkle with extra cracked black pepper, fresh basil and a grating of fresh parmesan cheese
- Serve immediately and slurp away!!