Chef's Secret Recipe : Spaghetti Bolognese

A very belated Ramadan Kareem (…or "Ramzan Mubarak", before I get stoned by the very emotional lot who find the ‘D’ very offensive – lol)! I’ve been missing in action again but am back with something you will definitely love me for.

Spaghetti Bolognese is a very tricky dish to be perfect. It can either be too saucy or too dry, the flavor can either be too “ketchup-ish” or very sour but it’s one of my favorite dishes of all times!

My awesome brother Chef Fahd Khan, who happens to work at Down House Houston, took out his precious time to make me the yummiest Spaghetti Bolognese I’ve ever had. The best part is, it has fine restaurant taste that could quickly and easily be made right in your own kitchen!

(I begged and pleaded him to let me share this because he’s usually very mysterious about all his recipes)

By the way, I tried this for Iftar + Dinner - absolutely filling and delicious!

Here it is – Chef Fahd’s secret recipe, in his own words, for his special Bolognese sauce:

Watch the video:  

Click here to see the video in HD.

Yield: 8 Portions

Ingredient	Amount (U.S)	Amount (Met)	Preparation
Vegetable oil	3 Tbsp	45 g
Onions	2 oz	60 g	Small Dice
Garlic	2 oz	60 g	Small Dice
Celery	2 oz	60 g	Small Dice
Tomato Paste	3 Tbsp	45 g
Canned Whole Tomatoes	2 Cans	800 g	Juice Strained and reserved, Tomatoes chopped
Dried Oregano	2 Tbsp	30 g
Red Wine Vinegar	½ Cup	120 g
Fresh Tomatoes	1 lb	500 g	Chopped
Minced Beef	1 ½ lb	500 g

Procedure:

•   Heat pan on medium high heat and add oil, onions, garlic and celery. Cook till translucent.
•  Reduce heat to medium, add Tomato Paste, stir and cook for 2 minutes
• Add the dried Oregano and Vinegar and stir for 1 minute until slightly reduced.
• Add the reserved juice of the canned tomatoes and bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat to low add the canned tomatoes, cover and let cook for 15 Minutes
• Add the fresh tomatoes and minced beef stir till evenly coated liquid.
• Cover and let cook for 5 Minutes or till meat is just cooked
•  Season to taste

Plating:

•  Serve over boiled Pasta

Enjoy this brilliant and super easy way to make fine-dine Spaghetti Bolognese and do share your experiences with us!

Instagram: @hangrywords

Dear Pasta Lady.....

Home-based chefs, where have you been all my li(i-i-i-i)fe? No, seriously… Where were you?

We, “delhi walas”, have extremely stubborn taste buds and there’s no compromise when it comes to food, like being served ginger that is 1mm thicker than it’s supposed to be is no less than a sin. Oh, and we don’t believe other people’s reviews about food either because I mean, what do they know?

I have this extremely specific flavor for pastas stuck in my palate and even though Karachi is pretty good with Italian varieties, it lacks the knack of perfecting a Spaghetti Bolognese or Lasagna.

Unlike my usual self, today I decided to lift my egoistic, self imposed food standards and order from the most talked about “lasagna girl” in town. Yes, I jumped on the Maria Khan-Syed bandwagon.

 I was guilty of sending my car later than the time I had promised her, but she was sweet enough to give me heating instructions. I wasn’t too eager to taste the lasagna initially to be honest; I had bet it would be like the home/bakery mini “peezas” served at my first 11 birthdays!

My heart melted at the first look and okay fine, my mouth did water a bit (read: dog drool). I was able to cut a perfect square piece for myself without it slopping out of control and bit into my first, still doubtful, bite. Damn! This isn’t me being all Taylor Swift on food, but I think that piece of lasagna really was why I had waited all these years – totally writing a song about it. 

                               (For the first time, the actual thing was exactly as shown on the eatery's page)

The endless cheese oozed out from the layers every time I cut a bite out and every layer had a different flavorful story to tell. I’m not lying, this pasta lady really knows her way with the trickiest of flavors. I’m still staring at the leftovers wondering why my stomach won’t allow just ONE more bite. I’ve never appreciated minced chicken this much being a “gosht-khor”.  

These ladies are setting a trend - first Saniya’s Khao Suay and then this masterpiece of a lasagna by the Pasta Factory.

Splendid days beginneth.

Dat cheese tho.