Right, so I fancied some spaghetti bolognese the other day, but the proper, long-simmered kind just wasn’t on the cards. Needed something quick and easy. So, I figured I’d just whip up my own speedy version.
First off, I grabbed about a pound of ground beef I had. Threw that into a hot pan with a tiny bit of oil. My main goal was just to get it browned and broken up. While that was sizzling away, I got to work on the veggies. Didn’t have a whole lot, just a regular onion and a couple of cloves of garlic. Chopped the onion, not too fine, just a rough chop, you know? Minced up the garlic. Some people add carrots or celery, but I was going for speed here, and honestly, I didn’t have any celery on hand. Sometimes you just gotta work with what you’ve got.
Once the beef was nicely browned, I drained off most of the fat. Didn’t want it swimming. Then, I tossed in the chopped onion. Let that cook for a few minutes until it started to soften up. Then went in the garlic – didn’t want to burn that, so just a minute or so. Stirred it all about.
Next up, tomato stuff. I squeezed in a good blob of tomato paste. I always try to cook that off for a minute or two; someone told me it makes it taste better. Then, a big can of chopped tomatoes went in. Gave it a good stir to mix everything with the beef and onions. For seasoning, pretty basic: a bit of dried oregano, some dried basil because I didn’t have fresh, salt, and a good few grinds of black pepper. Nothing fancy.
I let that simmer away. Since it was the quick version, I wasn’t aiming for hours. Put a lid on it, turned the heat down low, and let it bubble gently for maybe 20 to 25 minutes. Just enough for the flavors to sort of get to know each other. While the sauce was doing its thing, I got a big pot of water on for the spaghetti. Salted the water, of course – that’s a must. Once it was boiling like mad, in went the spaghetti. Cooked that according to the packet instructions, aiming for al dente.
When the pasta was done, I drained it. Didn’t rinse it or anything. By then, the sauce had thickened up a bit and smelled pretty decent. So, dished up a pile of spaghetti, then ladled a generous amount of the bolognese sauce right on top. Some folks like to mix it all in the pot, but I prefer it this way, at least for the first serving.
And that was pretty much it. From start to finish, I reckon it was under 45 minutes, maybe even less. For a quick weeknight meal, it absolutely did the trick. Wasn’t the most complex bolognese I’ve ever made, or ever eaten, but it was hearty, tasty, and super straightforward. Sometimes, that’s all you need, right? Definitely a keeper for when I’m short on time. Clean-up wasn’t too bad either, which is always a bonus.