This week I experimented with Jamie Oliver’s £1 wonders. I batch cooked (for the very first time in my life!) his 50/50 Bolognese recipe. So far I made lovely lasagne with some of it and I have frozen two large portions for later. I costed out prices this week, comparing 2 supermarkets that I use. I omitted the bacon (but costed it in for you) as I don’t eat pork products but other than that I stayed quite true to the ingredients. Either the recipe relied heavily on the bacon or it really is disappointingly bland. I’m going to be adding in stock cubes to see if that helps. I enjoyed batch cooking and like the idea that I have 2 home made family size meals in the freezer.
50/50 Bolognese
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons dried rosemary or ½ a bunch of rosemary (15g)
- 6 rashers of smoked streaky bacon or smoked pancetta
- olive oil
- 750 g minced beef or pork
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 500 g fresh or frozen chopped mixed onion, carrot & celery
- 5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 3 x 400g tins of lentils
- 4 x 400g tins of chopped or plum tomatoes
Method
- Put a large deep casserole pan on a medium-high heat. Pick and finely chop the rosemary leaves, finely slice the bacon or pancetta, and place it all in the pan with 3 tablespoons of olive oil, stirring regularly, until lightly golden.
- Stir in the mince, breaking it up with your spoon, and let it brown for 15 minutes, stirring regularly. Peel, finely chop and add the garlic, along with the chopped mixed veg, season with sea salt and black pepper and cook for another 15 minutes, still stirring regularly.
- Stir in the balsamic, cook away, then add the lentils, juice and all. Add the tomatoes, then half-fill each of the four tins with water, swirl around and pour into the pan. Bring to the boil, then simmer on a medium-low heat for 2 hours, or until thickened, stirring occasionally.
- Season to perfection, and enjoy as is, batching up extra portions to stash in the fridge or freezer for future meals.
Tips
Cook 75g of dried spaghetti per portion (£0.06*) in a large pan of boiling salted water according to the packet instructions, then drain, reserving a mugful of starchy cooking water. Heat the Bolognese (allow 150g per portion, £0.87) in the pan until hot through, then toss in the pasta, loosening with splashes of cooking water, if needed. Grate over 5g of Cheddar cheese (£0.03), to serve.
Recipe: Jamie Olivers £1 Wonder
Photo: Marina Campbell