Spaghetti Bolognese
No, of course spaghetti bolognese is not traditional South African (that honour goes to the Italians), but when it comes to a flavourful pasta dish, spaghetti bolognese is our go-to dish!
Put it on the table:
We keep our ingredients to a minimum and mostly use fresh tomatoes rather than canned tomatoes. (However, if you can get hold of sweet Italian canned tomatoes in your local store, they are just as good).
Note: In this recipe we used a combination of large and cherry tomatoes – just because we had a lot of cherry tomatoes in the fridge and wanted to use them before they went bad.
Ingredients for spaghetti bolognese
500g beef mince
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 celery sticks, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
3 large tomatoes and 9 cherry tomatoes (peeled and chopped)
50g (2 tablespoons) tomato paste
4 cloves
2 bay leaves
250g spaghetti
salt & pepper, to taste
olive oil, to fry
Chopped veggies and garlic
Blanch tomatoes in boiling water, peel and chop
Put a large saucepan on medium heat and add olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add the chopped onion, carrot and celery and fry for 8-10 minutes. The vegetables should be soft and translucent.
Fry the vegetables
Add the beef mince, chopped garlic, cloves, bay leaves and salt and pepper. Stir well and cook until the meat is browned all over.
Brown the meat
Add tomato paste, stir through and then add the chopped tomatoes.
Add tomato paste and chopped tomatoes
Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to a gentle simmer and cover saucepan with a lid. Cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour, stirring occasionally, until you have a rich and thick sauce.
Cover saucepan and cook for 45 minutes to 1 hour
Bolognese after 30 minutes
When the bolognese is almost done, cook the spaghetti according to the pack instructions.
Cook spaghetti when bolognese is almost done
Spaghetti bolognese is almost done
Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain it and stir in the bolognese sauce (or if you prefer, serve the sauce on top of the spaghetti).
We like to mix the spaghetti with the bolognese sauce
You can serve the spaghetti bolognese with grated parmesan cheese and basil leaves if you like.
Spaghetti Bolognese
This is such a simple recipe, but it’s loaded with strong and familiar flavours. Enjoy making your own spaghetti bolognese!
Wet and Dusty Roads 
It looks delicious!
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Spaghetti Bolognese is always a winner at the dinner table in our house!
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Ons is net so lief vir spaghetti Bolognese. Dit bly maar altyd ‘n gunsteling dis
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Ek kan gewoonlik nie wag om op te skep wanneer die geure van Spaghetti Bolognese die kombuis vul nie – dis een van die min disse waar daar nooit ‘n krummeltjie oorbly vir die volgende dag nie!
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Klink vir my presies soos dit by ons gaan!
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This recipe is very fitting as I’ve been looking up dishes where I can use cherry tomatoes and tomato sauce that I’ve been making from my garden. I can almost smell the flavours and spices from the sauce. Yum!
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I think, of course, that home grown tomatoes are the very best to use in Spaghetti Bolognese! You’re lucky to be able to cook from your very own garden!
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As a lifelong vegetarian, I usually make vegetarian spaghetti bolognese for my family which is a lovely quick take on the traditional Italian pasta dish. It’s quick to make and tastes amazing too! Thanks for sharing, and have a good day 🙂 It’s finally nice and sunny in Sligo 🙂 Aiva xx
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Oh yes, I can think that a vegetarian spaghetti bolognese might be nice too – do you use lentils (and maybe mushrooms too)? I’m glad you’re having a sunny day in Sligo – is it still summer there? Our days are starting to get longer now, so I hope that means the end of winter! (Not that I can really complain about our winter – here where we live now, the average winter temperature is 20°C 🙂).
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You have the nicest cookware! Much used obviously. Spaghetti was a favourite of my childhood but I haven’t had pasta for a long time. Your recipes always tempt me to take up cooking….I did say “tempt’!
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Thank you Carolyn. The cookware you see here we actually bought when we arrived in East London two and a half years ago. Because we rent an unfurnished house, we had to buy everything we would need – all our furniture (and other house contents) are still in our permanent home in Langebaan.
When we visit our friends, their children always request that we make spaghetti bolognese – so, it’s definitely a favourite with children! Oh well, ‘tempt to cook’ is a good beginning …
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Looks delicious! I’m not sure if plant based “meat” is available everywhere, but we have it in the US. I’m going to try your recipe with it when we return to the states.
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Plant based meat is widely available in most major food stores in South Africa these days – I’m actually surprised at how many vegetarian (and vegan) products there are on the market. I’m sure vegetarian spaghetti bolognese can be just as delicious!
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Looking good. I always add mushrooms and surely a dish as good as that has to have a parmesan topping.
A few years ago when went to Bologna and expected Spaghetti Bolgnese but it was never on a menu and when I queried this I was told that it is not authentic Italian. Who would have guessed? Rather like Chicken Tikka Masala which is said to originate from Glasgow in Scotland.
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If we had mushrooms, we would most likely have added them to the spaghetti bolognese! Spaghetti bolognese is not authentic Italian? This must be the most interesting thing I’ve read today!
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Good ol’ Spag Bol, a staple in the Travelling Han household. Your version looks delicious (I’ve never added carrots before so I will do so next time)
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Some people grate the carrot, but I like the little pieces of carrot more. Oh, and by the way, I love the word Spag Bol!!
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Hehe everyone in England calls it a Spag Bol 🙂
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Well, from now on there is also one person (me) in South Africa who is going to call it that!
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A nice and simple meal with a huge delicious taste! God bless you for peeling cherry tomatoes!
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I should have mentioned maybe that the cherry tomatoes are slightly bigger than normal. There’s no way I’d peel the small cherry tomatoes! But thanks … I’ll take the “God bless you” 🙂.
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This is such a warming and thoroughly satisfying dish. You have a very stylish saucepan.
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I wouldn’t mind eating spaghetti bolognese at least once a week! Thanks Leighton, we bought the saucepan here in East London because our other (orange) one is at our permanent home back in Langebaan … but I don’t believe there’s a problem with having two of them!
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Hierdie bly maar ñ absolute wenner, Corna. Baie honger magies kan daarmee gevul word. Ons werkers ken dit nie, so as ek die dag maak, kom staan hulle ook reg.😉
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Dis waar Una, as ek nou ‘n vergelyking kan maak wil ek amper sê dat ‘n groot bak spaghetti bolognese soos die Bybel se vyf brode en twee vissies is – dit gee vir baie kos!
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Looks delicious!
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In my opinion, there is nothing wrong with a bowl of spaghetti bolognese (or two) to enjoy in one week!
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My kleinkinders hou van pasta, ek moes dit vroeër gelees het.
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Ek dink pasta in enige vorm is ‘n gunsteling by kinders! Toe ek een keer vir my broer-hulle se twee kinders macaroni en kaas gemaak het, was hulle eerste reaksie: “Sjoe Tannie Corna kan kos maak” 🙂.
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Many recipes we think is Italian actually was popularised in America, when Italians do cook Spaghetti with meat sauce its also much simpler than what we do in SA, Italians won’t add garlic, bay leaves, and cloves, they only use carrots, Celery, tomatoes, wine and salt and pepper, much more tomatoes than we do and slowly simmer it for at least three hours.
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That’s very true. We ate a pasta dish in Sicily that was basically just homemade spaghetti and a rich tomato sauce that cooked for hours — simple, but very tasty!
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Lovely, I make a big pot of this every two or three weeks and freeze some for the family to use when I’m away. We’re off on a boating holiday in a few days and I’m going to make some in advance, freeze it and take it in a cool bag for our first night’s meal. We generally eat out on the boat alternate nights but it depends on where we are and how far the nearest country inn is. Weather is dreadful at the moment so wish us luck!
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It’s very smart of you to make spaghetti bolognese before you go on a trip. We usually do the same when we go camping (whether it’s spaghetti bolognese or another pasta dish), so we can relax on the first night of our holiday! Oh, I hope you guys enjoy the boating holiday … I sincerely hope the weather is in your favour!
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