Tantalizing Taglitelle! - Bolognese my style!

Speedy Saturday Tea

Saturdays are generally family days for most people, but the day seems to be just as busy as any other day of the week for me!

I can't quite remember when I last had a lie in on a Saturday morning, it may have been sometime in March but don't quote me on that!.... by a lie in I mean sleeping until after 8am!

There may be no more early morning work shifts on a Saturday for me but there are other duties that I get dragged out of bed at the crack of dawn for!




Oldest child has developed a penchant for climbing but at 18 years old he can't be expected to climb trees any more so a newly opened climbing wall in Derry city at the Foyle Arena is drawing young'uns like himself.

The younger child has been horse mad probably since she realised what a horse was, so Saturday is stables day, with lots of lessons, hacks out, stables to be mucked out and ponies to be hugged and fussed over.

Then there's usually a trip to the cinema or maybe bowling or some other fun family outing in the early evening to amuse and spend some quality time together. It means I spend most of my Saturday running a free taxi service.

But Saturday night is usually 'my' night. The one night I get together with my girl BFF's, mid-week meet ups are just too much hassle as we all have school, college, work routines and children to deal with.



When we girls get together we may have one too many glasses of wine or go a little overboard on the G & T's, but it's always a good wine! and only Gordon's will do! of course when hens get together we have a good old cluck and gossip as we catch up on what has been happening in our hectic lives.

With so many delightful distractions there is little time for complicated cooking  so Saturday night tends to be 'fast food' night! and I don't mean a takeaway from the local greasy spoon or global 'plastic fantastic' food outlet. It has to be wholesome, filling, tasty and made in a hurry.

You could do lots of preparation in advance but why bother. I like to go with something swift like a good old pasta dish and the family favourite is my Tantalizing Tagliatelle. It's quick easy, tasty, filling and nutritious, and it will soak up red wine a treat!

what you need: to feed 4 people

1 small onion diced

400 g lean mince beef or lean mince pork

1 pint hot water

500 ml tomato & basil sauce OR a 500 ml jar of your favorite brand of pasta sauce

1 large clove garlic grated or crushed

300 g fresh egg tagliatelle...shop bought... of course! OR 250 g dried durum wheat tagliatelle as you like!

4 tablespoons coconut milk (optional)

6 leaves of fresh basil

how to:

• in a heavy bottomed non stick pan... a wok is good if you have a large lid that will cover it...personally I use a Le Creuset 2 litre casserole pot, it's my favorite thing and has a multitude of uses which cuts down on the amount of saucepans in ones cupboard! Now fry your minced meat until lightly browned and the natural fat begins to melt out of it, now you can add the chopped onion and stir well and get them frying in the meat fat. We want the onions to start to soften but we dont want them to singe or burn so if the pot gets too hot don't be afraid to turn the heat down!
• add the hot water to the meat and onions, turn the heat down to a gentle simmer and put a lid over. let the meat, onions and water cook for about 10 mins, don't be tempted to lift the lid until at least 8 mins have passed, we want to cook quickly so keeping the lid on speeds up the cooking.
• after 10 mins remove the lid and you will see much of the water has actually reduced. keep the heat at a low level / gentle simmer and add the tomato sauce...DANGER WARNING! if your pot is too hot the tomato sauce could spark out of the pot and could burn you or even worse you could give your clothes a severe dose of the tomato measles! so keep the heat low and you'll reduce your dry cleaning bill too!.
• stir the sauce into the meat and cover with the lid again for another 5 mins. while that is cooking it's time to crush/grate you garlic. I prefer to grate mine on this nice little grating gadget, it has a plastic sleeve underneath to hold anything you grate until your're ready to use it...how cool is that? great for zesting lemons
  
• now we need to multi task for a few moments! place your pasta in a good deep saucepan and have a kettle of water boiled ready to pour over the pasta. Fresh pasta will take about 8 mins to heat up and cook through but follow the instructions on the packet if in doubt, your tomato sauce when finished can keep hot for a good fifteen minutes while your cooking the pasta so don't feel under pressure

to finish the meat sauce:

• to finish the meat sauce add the crushed garlic and coconut milk. Garlic has a natural saltiness so I never add salt to this dish also adding the garlic at the last minute gives a real fresh garlicky flavour, if you don't like too much garlic or have a hot date later on that night you can reduce the amount you use or add it a little earlier and let some of the flavour cook out. The coconut milk gives the meat sauce a delectable creaminess, much healthier than using dairy cream too but you can leave it out if you want, it won't ruin the dish if you omit it.
• time to serve! once your past is cooked you can drain it and return it too the pot. I like to add a little extra virgin olive oil and fresh black pepper...yum! tasty as a meal on its own too. 
• Now some people like to have the meat sauce mixed in with the pasta that works good for spaghetti or spirals or tubes, some people like it on the side, me I like a bed of tagliatelle with a pool of sauce on top so I can grate some fresh parmesan onto the sauce and let it melt in, lastly I sprinkle over some of the fresh basil leaves which you can shred with a knife if your skills are up to it or you can just tear up and scatter over the dish, then spoon, fork and glass of red wine at the ready its time to dig in Boun Appetito!

chefs notes!

You can also make a vegetarian version of this dish, something like a ratatouille with lots of onions, a mix of colored peppers, aubergine, courgettes, marrow or other squash, I've been even known to add chick peas and surprisingly the kids love it.

As for the fresh tomato sauce? yes I do make my own but of course I cheat! I'll let you into that little secret sometime soon but in the mean time feel free to use whichever shop bought brand you like but for health reasons as in lower salt and sugar and additive levels I prefer to take the time and make big batches of tomato sauce which I store in jars ready to use whenever.