Bolognese with a creamy twist

Anyone who knows me, will know how much I enjoy food. One of the things I love doing with food is making my own rules when preparing it, so I thought I'd begin sharing some of my kitchen experiences in the form of recipes and cooking ideas.

One of my favourites, is bolognese. This time round I'm doing it with a creamy twist.

Ingredients don't need to be followed strictly, I encourage you to experiment with different combinations to come up with combinations that work for you.

  • 5 large Onions
  • 1 Table Spoon of Garlic
  • 3 Chillies
  • 500 Grams of Mushrooms
  • 2 large Tomatoes
  • 1 Red Pepper
  • 1 Green Pepper
  • 1 Can Whole Peeled tomatoes
  • 1 Can tomato and onion mix
  • 1 KG Spaghetti
  • 1 KG Mince
  • 2 Table Spoons of Butter
  • 1  Litre of Milk
  • 2 Cups of Flour
  • 100 Grams of Cheddar Cheese
  • 30 Grams of Camembert
  • Soya Sauce
  • Red Wine
  • Olive Oil
  • Salt
  • Black Pepper
  • Ina Paarman's Season Sea Salt
  • Ina Paarman's Garlic and Herb
  • Vegetable Stock
Whipping it all together into tasty goodness.

Preparation work before cooking starts:

Chop the following ingredients into medium size pieces. You don't want them to be too small as they will reduce in size as the moisture cooks out of them.

  • Onions
  • Chillies
  • Mushrooms
  • Tomatoes
  • Red Pepper
  • Green Pepper
Grate the Cheddar Cheese and the Camembert.

The cooking begins. You need to follow your instincts when it comes to how hot your pans need to be. You want it to sizzle, but not to stick. We don't use oil as the ingredients provide their own moisture.

Pan 1 - Fry the garlic, onion and mushrooms until the onions are more or less transparent and the mushrooms are soft. Add, black pepper, season sea salt, vegetable stock and, garlic and herb to taste.

Pan 2 - Fry the peppers, tomato and chilli until the peppers are soft.

Pan 3 - Fry the mince until it has browned, add some soya sauce and some red wine

Pot 1 - Add the spaghetti to boiling water, allow the pot to simmer for about 7 min, until the pasta is aldente, which basically means, soft but not mushy. Add about a table spoon of olive oil to prevent the pasta from sticking together and add some salt to add a bit of flavour. To make it interesting you can consider adding some vegetable stock while the pasta is cooking.

Glass Bowl - melt the butter in the microwave. Add the flower and whisk. Add milk and whisk until smooth. Microwave for about 6 minutes whisking every 2 minutes. If it is too thick at more milk. Once you're happy with the consistency of the white sauce add the cheese and whisk again. It is important to add the cheese right at the end and not to microwave again as the cheese becomes chewy if you microwave it.

Mixing it up...

Pot 2 - Mix the contents of all the pans. Add the whole peeled tomatoes as well as the tomato and onion mix. Allow to simmer on the stove for a bit to allow the flavours to combine.

Glass Bowl - Gradually add pasta into the bowl of white sauce until the sauce is evenly distributed and the pasta still feels moist.

Serve it hot...

Now that all the hard work is done, dish up pasta and white sauce with the bolognese sauce on top.

If you'd like to see some pictures you can find them on Facebook.

This should make enough for about eight to ten good size portions or food for four people for two nights.

Let me know if you try it and how it turns out.