Bolognaise...
The ultimate cheap eat, an amazing comfort food, and a standard dish in every person’s gastro repertoire, Spaghetti Bolognese is made in a variety of ways depending on your own taste. It is so commonly eaten in Ireland that I have heard some people refer to it as Spag-Bol. Yuk! What a horrible name: Peter’s sister uses this term and it tears me up inside.
I’ve been making it for years, my ma made it for me, but that’s where the tradition ends. In my granny’s time people still thought bananas were exotic so back then Irish people probably couldn’t have located S.B.’s spiritual home, Italy, on the map but for the fact that Rome is where Irish priests go to learn how to put their sauce all over other people’s meatballs. Mamma Mia!
Some people I know put in bacon, red wine, bay leaves, Italian sausage, cream, butter, etc. Many moons ago I worked in an Italian restaurant in Spain who made all Bolognese with a finely chopped celery, carrot and onion base.
I think I make a pretty good Bolognese sauce without any fancy extras. I keep it very simple focusing almost exclusively on the humble pomodoro:
Weekly food offers at Lidl include:
There’s always some interesting and afforable new food to try at Aldi, and this Thursday’s special buys include:
Getting the roast potatoes right on Christmas day is always a challenge because there are a million and one other things to do. I have the answer – or at least Heston does.
I have never cooked Christmas lunch in my own house but I have always helped my Mother out on the day and for the past couple of years I have taken over proceedings – a balancing act that can sometimes drive me mad.