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| Pictured:Lamb Goulash on Polenta. Not the actual recipe I'm blogging. |
I'm still cooking the recipe I was going to blog today (pictured above from when I did it in the summer) but I either forgot to get or couldn't find anywhere about half the ingredients so it's turning into something else entirely and I don't know if it will be any good. So instead I'm going to do the recipe I did last night which will lack relevant pictures.
Spicy Pork Bolognese
I've always had a bit of a soft spot for bolognese unless you make it from a jar in which case fuck you and the horse you rode in on. I also have a pasta maker which I would go as far as to say is essential for anyone who loves cooking and Italian food for 2 reasons. 1) It really does make a superior pasta and you can pretty much make what you like with a bit of practice 2) It's time consuming and requires a bit of hard work and patience, which means you won't feel like doing it often and that's good because pasta is really not something you should be eating a lot of if you have a sedentary lifestyle which you spend either at a desk or asleep like me. |
| Homemade spaghetti on a coathanger because I'm thrifty |
I also bloody love smoked paprika. I consider it the king of all seasonings for it's incredible robust and delicious flavour and I get through metric tonnes of the stuff. Pork mince is also decidedly cheaper that beef mince but goes this slightly unpalatable grey colour when you cook it. It also lacks the richness of beef.
Combine that lovely smoky rich paprika and the pork mince you get a different, interesting and slightly spicy/warming spagbol that's easy to make.You can also make it with less/no garlic if you're not so fond of that whole Italian garlic the fuck out of everything thing.
Also a lot of people like to put carrots in their bolognese. These people are wrong.
Ingredients
Pork mince
1 whole onion
3 cloves of garlic
Tin of chopped Tomatoes
Mushrooms
smoked bacon lardons/pancetta
Smoked Paprika
Regular Paprika
Red wine
Tomato puree
Thyme
Oregano
Pork stock cube
Optional extras:
Cherry Tomatoes (if they're in season substitute the tinned tomatoes for a load of these. It will make a richer sweeter sauce)
Finely dice the onion and place in a pan with the pancetta and herbs over a very low heat. Cover and allow them to soften for about 20 minutes. This really brings out the flavour of the onions. After about 10 minutes add a handful of halved cherry tomatoes if you're using them and the mushrooms and cover again.
Season the pork mince with salt and pepper and about a tablespoon of smoked paprika. Get a second larger pan and brown off the mince over a higher heat. Whilst you're doing this crush the garlic and add it to the onions (you don't want to add it too early or it will burn). You may wish to drain some of the fat off the mince depending on how lean it is. Add the rest of the herbs to the mince and another couple of tablespoons of smoked paprika and one tablespoon of ordinary paprika.
Transfer the onions, pancetta etc. to the pan with the mince and mix well. Add about a glass and a half of red wine and turn up the heat slightly so the liquid just begins to boil off.
A short side bar here. People like Nigella Lawson will say things like "Use a good wine, one that you would drink". Fuck those people. I'm not made of fucking money. My good wine, that I would drink, is going to get drunk. I specially selected it for THAT VERY PURPOSE. I'm not wasting it for a minor improvement in flavour when I spent good money on it. I have 2 boxes of cheap wine on the top of my freezer I use for cooking and they do fine. We had a bottle of chianti with this last night and I'm far happier it went straight in my face rather than in the dinner.
Anyway where was I? Sprinkle the pork stock cube over the mince. You don't want to use a liquid stock for this. Too much liquid is the enemy anything with minced meat. Turn the heat down and stir well for a couple of minutes before finally adding the tinned tomatoes and about a teaspoon or 2 of tomato puree.
Turn the heat right down as low as possible and cover. Allow it to gently simmer for about 1 and a half hours, checking periodically to make sure it doesn't dry out. If it does get dry at all add a splash of red wine. Taste regularly and adjust the seasoning to your liking. If you find you've over seasoned a splash of lemon juice can go some way to counteracting it, particularly with over salting.
Serve over spaghetti (which you can buy from the shops of course).
