Simple Spaghetti Bolognese, an easy dinner using fresh ingredients and full of flavor, with a homemade tomato sauce

A Simple Bolognese really is simple! You might think this is a quick and easy recipe because it uses ready-made ingredients such as canned sauces or pre-cooked spaghetti, but it certainly doesn't! It's all made from scratch using fresh ingredients and not complicated at all.

Once you have made it, you can add other flavors, experiment a little, or just keep the recipe as it is!

I love making this as it is quick, inexpensive, uncomplicated, full of flavor, and very easy to do.

You can use fresh tomatoes, canned or a combination. In the instructions below I give you some instructions on how to peel the skin from fresh tomatoes easily.

Can I make some changes to this recipe?

I've made this recipe so that you can be as rigid or as versatile as you wish.

You can choose what ground meat you would like, whether you want spaghetti, pasta or something else such as spiralised zucchini or courgettes.

Maybe just a warm bread roll or our delicious beer, bacon and cheddar cornbread. 

What else can I use the tomato sauce for?

The tomato sauce I have used in this recipe is my 'go-to' recipe for a basic tomato sauce, which uses fresh ingredients and a few herbs, such as basil, bay leaf, and oregano.

The tomato sauce doesn't take very long to make and has heaps of flavor.

You can also make the sauce in batches and freeze, or can, and use it for other recipes such as our delicious pork and tomato casserole or Make some of our garlic meatballs and serve the sauce with those.

This simple spaghetti bolognese or pasta and meat in a tomato sauce is a great dish to make if you wanted to make a small serving, for say 1 or 2 people, or indeed a large crowd.

It's inexpensive, and you can use as much or little of the ingredients as you wish.

This recipe serves 4 hungry people, so feel free to halve or multiply the amounts to suit whatever amount of people you're serving. 

Can I freeze the sauce?

The bolognese will also freeze very well, so if you wanted to make up a batch for your weeknight dinners and freeze, I usually pop them in airtight containers and defrost as and when.

Then cook up some spaghetti which only takes a matter of minutes, and reheat the bolognese in a pan or microwave. It's that simple!

So come and discover how easy this Simple Spaghetti Bolognese really is to make.

You will need

1 saucepan for cooking spaghetti
1 pan to cook the Bolognese

Ingredients you'll need

• Spaghetti/pasta - we use spaghetti but you can opt for any type of pasta you have at home
• Grated cheese - we use cheddar, but choose what you like the most. It is for sprinkling on the top so quantities will be to suit how much you'd like to sprinkle.
• Ground meat of your choice, or for vegetarians, ground soya meat
• Onion
• Garlic - fresh
• Mushrooms - these are optional but they add an extra texture and flavor to the dish
• Bay Leaves
• Oregano - fresh is preferred
• Broth / Stock - you can use beef, chicken, or vegetable broth
• Worcester Sauce
• Balsamic vinegar
• Basil leaves - These need to be fresh. the flavor and aroma from fresh basil leaves is what you need to lift this dish to another level of tasty!
• Tomatoes - Fresh or canned if you already have those in your pantry
• Sugar - A sprinkling of sugar added to the tomato sauce lifts the tomato flavor. it won't add any sweetness, just brings out the tomato flavor notes.
• Red wine - you can add a glass of red wine to the recipe if you wish, and also include any other of your favorite herbs.

Instructions

1. Peel & chop onion, garlic, and mushrooms if using then add to a pan with 1 tablespoon olive oil. If you are using fresh tomatoes, remove the bit where the stem was.

2. Lightly fry until the onions and mushrooms are soft and translucent (not brown as this will make them taste bitter)

3. Add your meat and cook, stirring in the pan with the other ingredients. If you want to add a splash of red wine, do it now.

4. Place the tomatoes in a bowl and chop roughly, leaving chunks (or finely if you don't like chunks!)

If you're using fresh tomatoes, place in a bowl, add boiling water to cover the top, then leave for 5 minutes.

Drain the water then pierce with a sharp knife and the skins should peel away easily. Then chop.

5. Add the remaining ingredients EXCEPT for the basil leaves.

6. Stir it all together and leave to simmer on a low heat until the sauce thickens. Should take 10 minutes or so.

7. Whilst the sauce is simmering, cook the spaghetti as per the packet instructions, and grate the cheese.

If you need more liquid for the bolognese, add a little until it is the consistency you like.

8. Warm your dinner plates/bowls up and get ready to plate up when the spaghetti is done.

9. Turn off the heat and tear the basil leaves into the sauce and give it a little stir.
Have a taste to see if you need more salt & pepper.

Place spaghetti in a bowl, add the bolognese and then sprinkle the cheese on top and watch it melt! Delicious.

We'd love to hear from you and what you thought of our Simple Spaghetti Bolognese recipe. Did you make any changes or add some other goodies? Let us know in the comments below. Thanks for reading and happy cooking!

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