Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients :
1 kilo of beef mince
1 large onion (chopped)
10 mushrooms (chopped)
3 cloves of garlic (crushed)
I carrot (grated)
Handful of red lentil
Tin of chopped tomatoes
Large squeeze of tomato purée
Beef stock cube (crumbled)
Tablespoon of mixed herbs
Direction:
Brown the mince with the onions, garlic & mushrooms. Add to slow cooker. Add everything else & stir. Put a splash of water if it looks too dry. Cook on low for 8 hours.
We had 2 portions this evening with pasta & I froze the rest in 2 portion lots. I can add kidney beans & chilli powder to make beef chilli to serve with rice or make some mashed potato to turn it into cottage pie or mince and tatties. Works out at less than £1 a portion.
Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce Recipe Answers and Questions:
Question: Could try chick peas too! They look and taste a bit like pasta shapes. Not sure how they fare in slow Cooker though.
Answer: I’d probably add tinned chick peas about half way through.
Question: What happens to the lentils? Do they “disapear” or are they quite obvious 4 fussy children spag ball is 1 meal they all eat so looking at ways to eek out a pack of mince.
Answer: You can’t see or taste the lentils or the carrot once it’s all cooked. It’s a great way of getting more fibre and veg into fussy eaters of all ages (and bulking out the mince).
Question: It’s basically what we had tonight without the carrot and with a bit of red wine..
Answer: Red wine is always a good addition for a bit of extra flavour .
Question: Is that 2 packs of mince? Looks delicious by the way.
Answer: It’s a big pack from Aldi.
Question: Probably a silly question but if you made half the quantity would you reduce the cooking time a little?
Answer: Not sure the quantity matters. It’s probably edible after 6 hours on low – or up to 10 hours.
Question: Can you use frozen mince? I know I wont be able to brown it so might look anemic but forgot to defrost.
Answer: If it’s a solid block I would do a quick defrost in the microwave to break it up. If bought as frozen mince, that’s usually ok to use straight from frozen.