Pork Spaghetti Bolognese

(Recipe added – taken from the book I mentioned in this post… and the recipe is at the bottom of the page for those impatient ones)

I’m not sure if it was the cold or the mussels yesterday, but I wasn’t right! Last night my tummy wouldn’t stop rumbling and this morning I woke up feeling absolutely dreadful! And it’s Ashleigh monday (my day off work and stay home with Ash) today… he was asking for a walk even before 8o’clcok, I knew I just won’t be fit enough to have him, so J took half a day off and net net (Jeanette but Ash lovingly calls her net net) had him for the other half of the day. While me, stayed in bed till half 3!!!!

I wasn’t even sleeping 🙁 Just making arrgh and hmmm noise, basically feeling sorry for myself. The whole day I had one mince pie (gotta have a mince pie even when you’re ill) and a bag of quavers. So at 4pm I made myself stand up and do something… made a bolognese!

The recipe is taken from Aldo Zilli’s book. I tried quite a few recipes from this book and they all came out lovely. So traditionally, bolognese is made of minced pork instead of beef as we all know now! Fact. I love these cultural findings since I found out a lot of people here are doing things wrong when they cook chinese food. Maybe to say wrong is a strong word. Nothng wrong with adapting to your own taste but it’s interesting to know how something would taste authentically.

The result was delicious!!! I’m not sure if I should publish the recipe… if you really want it I can send it to you. And since I wasn’t very well today so I didn’t bother taking any pics. But the proof is in this video… lol.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy2bJW2iqsU

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 40g (1.5 oz) butter
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 celery stick, finely chopped
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 250g (9oz) lean minced pork
• 200ml (7 fl oz) red wine
• 400g can of chopped tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
• a little flour, mixed to a paste with water
• 350g (12 ox) spaghetti
• salt and ground black pepper
• freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Heat the oil and butter in a deep pan, add the onion, celery and carrot and stir well. Cook over a gentle heat for 5 minutes, until just beginning to soften. (pic 1)
2. Increase the heat and add the minced pork. Cook for 10 minutes, stgirring constantly for the first 3 minutes to break up the lumps. Add the red wine and simmer for 3 minutes. (pic 2)
3. Stir in the tomatoes and season well with salt and pepper. (pic 3) Partially cover and cook over a low heat for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until the meat and vegetables are very tender and the juices have thickened. (pic 4) Stir in the parsley. (If the sauce isn’t thick enough, add a little flour and water paste and cook for a further 5-10 minutes)  
4. Bring a large pan of salted water to a rolling boil. Add the pasta, stir and return to a gently rolling boil. Cook for 10-12 minutes, until al dente, then drain. Add the pasta to the sauce and mix well. Serve in deep bowls with a sprinkling of Parmesan.

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