Spaghetti Bolognese paired with Carvinea Organic Primitivo

Today we’re going Italian with a great homemade spaghetti bolognese recipe paired with a lovely bottle of Carvinea Organic Primitivo wine. First, about the Primitivo. This is the sort of wine that elicits gasps of joy with every sip. With vines grown around the small town of Carovigno in the north of the Salento winemaking area, it’s the winner of Italy’s most prestigious Tre Bicchieri award. The wine is a beautiful, deep ruby colour and has rich fruity aromas of mulberry, black plum and fresh black cherry. It’s an incredibly complex and elegant wine with bold fruity and vanilla flavours and a wonderful long finish. You can find out more about the wonderful Primitivo grape (which is the same as Zinfandel incidentally) here.

The Bolognese Debate

And now for the food. The perfect recipe for bolognese sauce has been known to create some of the most heated foodie debates I’ve heard (especially in Italy). Should your sauce include carrots and celery? How about adding bacon? Should you use red or white wine? Traditional versions made in Bologna often don’t have any garlic and milk can be added at the end to add silkiness. So many questions – it’s more of a minefield than you realise! However, I’ve decided that perfecting your own recipe to suit your taste is the only way to go. Which is what my husband Terry has done over the years (decades?) and this is the recipe I’m going to share with you today. It’s perfect served with the delectable Primitivo. Cheers!

Our Homemade Recipe

To make your sauce start by frying the garlic and onion in the vegetable oil for 10 mins. Halve and slice the mushrooms into small slices and add to the onion and garlic mix. Cook for 5 mins, stirring.

Brown the mince in a dry frying pan on a low heat. Do this in batches. As each batch browns, empty it into the onions followed by a tin of chopped tomatoes. Continue until all the mince and tomatoes are emptied into the  pan, stirring and mixing as you go along. Once the last of mince and tinned tomatoes are done, add 300ml of Heinz ketchup. I’m told it has to be Heinz.

Add 100ml of red wine and then add the final, and possibly most important, ingredient – the bay leaves. Crush them and mix into the sauce, making sure you totally submerge them. Season with about half a teaspoon of salt (you can adjust this to suit your taste).

Simmer the mix (covered) on very low, stirring occasionally for about 1 hour until everything is well cooked and the flavours are developed.

Finally, cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the back of the packet. Drain and serve topped with the bolognese sauce.

When Terry has a bolognese cooking day he makes a huge batch of the sauce which we freeze in portions for two in the freezer. The quantities mentioned below make enough for 12 good portions. You can always reduce them if you are looking to make less. Here’s a printed version of the recipe for you.

So, do you have your own version of spaghetti bolognese? What’s your secret? I’d love to know.

Terry's Spaghetti Bolognese

A classic Italian pasta dish perfected over the years

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Prep Time 30 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 20 minutes mins

Servings: 12 people

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients Method

Ingredients

  

• 1 kg beef mince
• 3 onions large, diced
• 4 garlic cloves large, peeled and crushed
• 400 g white mushrooms halved and sliced
• 4x400 g tinned tomatoes chopped
• 300 ml tomato ketchup Heinz
• 100 ml red wine
• 20 bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp salt

Method

 

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a pan and add the garlic and onions. Cook on a low heat for 10 mins.
2. Add the sliced mushrooms and cook for 5 mins, stirring.
3. Brown the beef mince in batches in a dry frying pan on a low heat. As each batch is brownd, add it to the onions followd by a tine of tomatoes. Continue until all the mince and tinned tomatoes have been added to the pan, stirring as you go.
4. Once the last of the mince and tinned tomatoes have been added, pour in 300ml of Heinz tomato ketchup. Then add the red wine and stir through.
5. Add the bay leaves, crushing them in your hands as you do and making sure they are well submerged in the sauce. Finally, add the salt and stir through.
6. Simmer (covered) on very low for about one hour until everything is cooked through and the flavours have developed nicely.
7. When ready cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet and serve the bolognese sauce over it.

The wine facts

And finally, here’s everything you need to know about the superb Carvinea Primitivo 2017.

The retail price is £18.82. Find out more here.

Carvinea Organic Primitivo 2017 is available for free next day delivery from Italian wine specialists independent.wine