Spaghetti Bolognese

Spaghetti Bolognese

Note (31 Jan 2012): This was first posted in Jun 2008, now updated with new photos and improved recipe.

Spaghetti Bolognese is a popular Italian pasta dish served with a tomato-based meat sauce. Traditionally, the bolognese sauce is served with tagliatelle (long flat pasta noodles), but you can use any type of pasta you like, and in my case I used spaghetti. This is the fondest childhood pasta memory of mine, and also the earliest pastas I know of & enjoyed when I was a kid. Ordering a plate from anyplace was such a treat back then. Now, I get to enjoy this dish with a yummy home-made bolognese sauce. The meat sauce can be prepared in advanced – warm the sauce and combine it with the cooked pasta just before serving. In fact, I made a huge batch of sauce over the weekend, freeze the extras in individual serving bags and thaw them when needed. In this way, we can have delicious bolognese pasta dinners anytime, even on busy weekday nights.

Ingredients
(Serves 2)

- 300g bolognese sauce (see recipe here)
- 2 servings of spaghetti or other pasta (about 160g)
- water
- salt
- freshly cracked black pepper
- shredded parsmesan cheese and chopped parsley (optional)

Directions
1. Cook the spaghetti in a pot of boiling, heavily salted water according to the timing on the package. Drain pasta and set aside some pasta water.
2. Warm bolognese sauce in a saucepan. Set aside 1-2 ladles of sauce in a bowl.
3. Add cooked pasta to the meat sauce in saucepan. Add pasta water, 1 tablespoon at a time, to bind the pasta together.
4. Season with black pepper. Plate the pasta to serving dishes and top with the remaining meat sauce. Top with parmesan cheese and parsley, if desired.

Cooking Notes
1. You can also thaw and warm the sauce in the microwave oven.

Related:
- Bolognese Sauce Recipe

This dish is submitted to Presto Pasta Nights, a food blog event by Ruth.

Ingredients Used beef • Pasta • pork • wine