Simple Beef Spaghetti Bolognese

Covid increases the awareness of remote working luckily. As a graphic designer, I was spending so much time on the computer; this was causing not having enough time for shopping or cooking. Eventually, I started to gain weight and eat junk food a lot. To stop this, I searched for an online food ordering service and decided to go with Gousto. I loved their branding and brand messaging, as well as their recipes. Since I’m Turkish and enjoy the Mediterranean diet, their recipes were the closest one to my taste. To keep everything in my archive, I’m writing their recipes in here too for future reference.

Recipe for 2

INGREDIENTS

• Olive Oil
• 1 brown onion
• 1 carrot
• 2 garlic cloves
• 250g beef mince
• 190g spaghetti
• 1 chicken stock cube
• 1 henderson’s relish sachet (15ml)
• 8ml soy sauce
• 16g tomato paste
• 1 can of tomato frito (200g)
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 40g cheddar cheese
• Pepper to taste
• Salt to taste 

METHOD

1. Boil a kettle. Peel and finely chop the brown onion. Top, tail, peel and finely chop the carrot.
2. Heat a large, wide-based pan (preferably non-stick) with a drizzle of olive oil over a medium-high heat. Once hot, add the chopped onion and carrot with a pinch of salt and cook for 3-4 min or until beginning to soften.
3. Peel and finely chop (or grate) the garlic
4. Once the onion and carrot are beginning to soften, add the beef mince to the pan and increase the heat to high. Cook for 3-4 min further or until browned all over, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as you go.
5. Meanwhile, add the spaghetti to a pot of boiled water with a large pinch of salt and bring to the boil over a high heat. Cook for 8-10 min or until cooked with a slight bite, then drain and return to the pot until serving. Meanwhile, dissolve the chicken stock cube, Henderson’s relish and soy sauce in 100ml boiled water – this is your chicken stock.
6. Add the chopped garlic, tomato paste, chicken stock, tomato frito, dried basil and dried oregano to the pan. Season with a grind of black pepper, bring to the boil over a high heat and cook for 4-5 min further or until thickened – this is your beef bolognese.
7. Chop the basil finely, including the stalks. Grate the cheddar cheese.
8. Serve the beef bolognese over the spaghetti. Top with the grated cheese and chopped basil.

Enjoy!