Like a lot of families, spaghetti bolognese is one of our favourite meals. A family staple that is quick to prepare, all of us like, strong flavours and healthy. I like to pack ours full of vegetables – the girls love red peppers so we often have 2 or even 3 chopped up in there. They are not so keen on mushrooms so I’m a little bit crafty & sneak smaller pieces in our bolognese. We occasionally make our bolognese from scratch but quite honestly, just as often use a jar of bolognese sauce to make a super quick sauce.
Over the years, we’ve experimented with various ways to make it just right. Here are our tips for the ‘Perfect Spaghetti Bolognese’:
- Make sure your onions are really soft before adding the meat, vegetables & sauce – undercooked onions are works of the devil!
- For added zing – chop one red chilli finely and add towards the end of cooking.
- We’ve tried all sorts of different pastas – Spaghetti looks impressive but simply ends up everywhere. Our current favourite is Fusilli which holds the right amount of bolognese per spiral and doesn’t end up too soggy if you over cook it slightly.
- Make double and keep in the fridge for the next day – The flavours intensify making the bolognese even better.
We also use bolognese for snack sandwiches, which we call our Bolognese Parcels. Crispy and tasty, they are great on the move for picnics and on the way to training.
BOLOGNESE PARCELS
| Serves | 4-6 |
| Prep time | 5 minutes |
| Cook time | 15 minutes |
| Total time | 20 minutes |
| Meal type | Appetizer, Lunch, Snack |
| Misc | Child Friendly, Serve Hot |
| Occasion | Barbecue |
INGREDIENTS
- 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
- 1 Small Onion (Finely Chopped)
- 500g Lean Minced Beef
- 2 Medium Red Peppers (Diced)
- 150g Chestnut Mushrooms (Use more if you really like mushrooms)
- 1 jar Bolognese Sauce (We used Dolmio Bolognese)
- 8 Wholemeal Wraps
- 100g Medium Cheddar (Grated)
DIRECTIONS
| 1. | |
| In a large pan, heat the oil and add the onions. Cook through slowly until they are soft & transparent | |
| 2. | |
| Add the Minced Beef & cook through (whilst stirring) until all browned | |
| 3. | |
| Add the Chopped Peppers and Mushroom & cook through for a further 2-3 minutes until starting to soften | |
| 4. | |
| Add the jar of Bolognese Sauce – Stir through until throughly combined. Your Bolognese is now done | |
| 5. | |
| Heat up a large frying pan – No oil is necessary | |
| 6. | |
| Add one wrap, spoon 2-3 tbsp of Bolognese mixture in the centre. Add 1-2 tbsp grated cheese (try to get some cheese near the edges of the wrap) and add another wrap on top | |
| 7. | |
| Press down the top wrap and cook for 1-2 minutes until the bottom wrap is starting to brown. Flip over the wraps so the top one is now on the bottom of the pan – The cheese should have melted encouraging the wraps to stick to each other. Heat for around 1 minute & remove from the pan | |
| 8. | |
| Leave to cool for 1-2 minutes (this will help the wraps crisp up a little bit more) and slice into segments | |
These look incredible! I’ve only ever had bolognese sauce once before and it was delicious!d
I would not think to do this with Dolmio but it certainly makes a change from the standard spag bol. Good luck with the challenge.
I love spaghetti Bolognese these parcels look fab at making the meal a bit different.
These look fab! I love bolognese so will have to give this a try x
These parcels look delicious, great Bolognese tips too 🙂
Ahh.. clever! I wouldn’t have thought to put bolognese in parcels but I think the kids would love it!
These sound delicious!
Will definitely be trying them out with my dad 🙂
Ah wow I love this idea. I definitely want to try this, something different to the usual spag bol!
Feeling super hungry now! Commenting for myself and on behalf of BritMums and thanking you for taking part.
Such a clever idea to put bolognese in parcels! I think this looks like such a great meal,and I will have to give this a go myself x
These look very different and a great way to switch it up for guests or parties. 🙂
These look so delicious! I need to make a vegetarian version of these
This would be amazing with my leftover quorn mince, I would love to try and make the parcels using Dolmio!
These look great and not to hard to make either
These look and sound so delicous! I do enjoy dolmio.
Definitely need to try these out! Look so delicious!
These look so yummy – and healthy too!
Need to try these ASAP, they seem so easy and delicious!