Spaghetti Bolognese

What’s your favourite comfort food? In my country one of the top five is the Bolognese, or else pasta with ground beef. Everybody loves this, children, adults, elder people. It is one of the ultimate delights of the Greek cuisine, but I think everyone recognises it in various forms. I made this dish with spaghetti and ground beef. You can choose other kinds of meat, as well as soya. In this plate we are going for the non-vegetarian, traditional version. Also, you have a variety of pastas you can make a choice from.

Ingredients for the ground beef: ½ kg ground beef, 1 chopped onion, nutmeg, 1-2 cinnamon sticks, 10 berries of whole allspice, 1-2 grated carrots, salt, pepper, ½ small spoon tomato paste, 3-4 melted tomatoes, olive oil, 1 glass of white wine, water

Ingredients for the spaghetti: spaghetti pasta, salt, water, a couple of whole allspice for scent

I sauté my chopped onion in olive oil in a deep pan. I add by ground beef and allow it some minutes to change colour from red to light brown. Some say that the ground beef should be sautéed alone at the beginning, without the onions, as this way it becomes thinner; and then you add the onions. I follow the traditional way which is to first sauté the onions. I add the tomato paste and let it mingle for a couple of minutes. Then, I add the melted tomatoes, the grated carrots, the nutmeg, the cinnamon sticks, the allspice, salt, pepper and the white wine. I let it simmer for 60’. I want the ground beef to be juicy, so I add a little warm water if needed throughout the process. In the end, try to remove the cinnamon sticks and the whole allspices from the mixture.

For the spaghetti, I fill a kettle with water until the 2/3 and let it boil. I add the whole allspices and some salt; then, I add the pasta. I let it boil for 13-14’. I stir throughout the boiling process. In the end I drain the spaghetti, remove the whole allspices and add a small tbsp of butter or 2 tbsp of olive oil in my spaghetti and I toss.

I eat this pasta with a mature gruyere (graviera in Greek) cheese. Enjoy!