Meat Sauce Bolognaise (Handwritten)

Ingredients

• 1.1 tablespoon oil
• 2.1 tablespoon cooking fat
• 3.1 onion, large; chopped
• 4.3 carrots, large; grated
• 5.1 tablespoon parsley, chopped
• 6.1 green pepper, chopped
• 7.2 bay leaves
• 8.2 teaspoon salt
• 9.black pepper, a pinch
• 10.tomato sauce (ketchup), a dash
• 11.900 gram minced beef, approximately 2 lbs (900g)
• 12.454 gram ripe tomatoes, skinned and sliced; approximately 1 lb (454g)
• 13.850 gram canned tomatoes, 2 x 425g tins
• 14.1 can canned mushrooms, sliced
• 15.8 black peppercorns, count carefully to remove before serving
• 16.1 clove garlic, crushed

Method

1. 1.Brown onion in hot oil and vegetable fat. Add garlic and vegetables and simmer for ten minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. 2.Mix in minced meat. Cook until whitish in colour. Add one cup water, tomatoes, tomato paste, mushrooms and mushroom gravy. Simmer.
3. 3.Add the bay leaves and peppercorns and seasoning. Cook for about 2½ hours. Stir frequently.
4. 4.Taste, add a little sugar if necessary. Remove bayleaves and peppercorns before serving. Serve over spaghetti. This meat mixture freezes well.
5. 5.TO COOK THE SPAGHETTI: For ½ lb spaghetti, use about 4 pints boiling water, to which add half a tablespoon salt and one tablespoon oil. Be sure the water is boiling rapidly when spaghetti is put into it, which should be done slowly so as not to lower the temperature too suddenly. Stir occasionally and boil for 15–20 minutes. Pour in a glass of cold water to stop simmering. Drain through a colander and serve hot.

Notes

• Handwritten variant of Bolognaise. A typewritten version also appears in the collection (see family-meat-sauce-bolognaise from Scan 2).
• Note: The method mentions 'tomato paste' and 'mushroom gravy' which are not in the ingredient list. These may have been assumed or are included with the tinned tomatoes/mushrooms.
• The instruction to count peppercorns (8) so you can remove them all before serving is a practical tip from the original.
• This makes a large quantity and freezes well.