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Let it be known: I love Spaghetti Bolognese. I think it’s one of my top 5 favorite foods of all time. I’ve made spaghetti with a regular sauce before, but I’ve never searched out a bolognese recipe, until now. Richard & Betsey were over for one last hurrah on Friday before that baby of theirs decides to come and we decided to make said ‘Spag Bol’ (as the Aussies call it, according to Em.) What’s the difference between bolognese & meat sauce you ask? From what I understand (and correct me if I’m wrong) is that Bolognese simmers for several hours and is typically made with wine. Also, Italian sauces are composed of little or no tomato sauce.  I love this dish so much, I really didn’t care how long it would take. I just wanted to find an authentic recipe. So I searched & searched & searched and finally found one that looked pretty delish (I had to convert it from grams to ounces- I took that as a good sign. LOL!) and so we gave it a whirl. I made some changes (like omitting chicken livers-egads!) as well as a few other items, but this recipe was really good. While this isn’t a difficult recipe by any means, it really should simmer for a few hours. You could probably put it in a crock pot on low once you get to that point in the directions. Anyway, it’s delish- give it a try next time you’ve got a hankering for some Spag Bol! It’s a great recipe to prepare ahead of time.

Spaghetti Bolognese
4 oz lean ground pork
12 oz lean ground beef
2 onions, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 C chopped carrot
1/2 C chopped celery
4 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 C red or white wine (we used a dry sherry)
2 C beef stock
1 3/4 lb of peeled tomato’s, quartered*
2 Tbsp tomato paste**
3 Tbsp. cream (optional)
2 bay leaves
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 pkg cooked spaghetti

Directions:
Sauté the onion, carrot and celery over low heat in oil (or oil and butter); sweat the vegetables until they colour slightly; add the garlic, stiring well with a wooden spoon. Add the ground meat and cook over low heat, breaking the meat up with a fork. Season with salt and pepper; deglaze
with the white or red wine; increase the heat and cook until the wine
has evaporated. Add the quartered tomatoes and the tomato paste,
thinned with a little tomato juice, water or broth. Season with the bay leaves and combine well. Increase
the heat to medium so that the sauce boils gently; cover the pot and
let simmer for two to three hours, adding more broth as necessary. If
you are using cream, add it an hour before the end of the cooking time;
remove the bay leaves before serving. The cream will tend to cut some
of the tomato’s acidity.

*To peel the tomato’s, we boiled them for about 3-5 minutes and then put them in cold water. The skins will peel off easily this way.

**I was going to omit the tomato paste since I didn’t have any and it only called for 2 Tbsp, but since there isn’t any tomato sauce being added to this recipe, you really should add it (it resulted in a last minute trip to the store, thanks, Chris!)

I also wanted to find a new spinach salad recipe and came across this on Allrecipes. I was drawn to it because the dressing sounded like such an interesting mix of flavors: poppy seeds, toasted sesame seeds, paprika, minced onion. You get where I’m going here. It’d be perfect for Thanksgiving dinner, too! I had a wedge of parmesan so I added a few thin slies to the salad and it was yummy!

Spinach Salad
1 Tbsp. butter
3/4 C blanched & slivered
almonds
1 lb spinach, torn into bite sized pieces
1 C dried cranberries
1 Tbsp toasted sesame seeds
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
1/2 C sugar
2 tsp minced onion
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 C white wine vinegar
1/4 C cider vinegar
1/2 C vegetable oil
Fresh Parmesan (optional)

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add almonds and until lightly toasted. Remove and let cool. In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds,
sugar, onion, paprika, white wine vinegar, cider vinegar, and vegetable
oil. In a large bowl, combine the spinach with the toasted almonds and cranberries.Toss dressing with  spinach just before serving.

I keep forgetting to mention the most incredible cookie recipe from my brother Matt’s blog. Which, by the way, I never said I wouldn’t add you to my blog, YOU TURKEY!! And just so you know, you’ve officially been added (it sounds like a food blog anyway, LOL!) Matt needs help naming his cookie recipe and if you are the winner, than he’ll actually make you a batch of his scrumptious cookies and send them to you (can I throw some names in the hat, too?) So come on people, show a little

My little turkey has a special Thanksgiving message, so be sure to check back before then!

Bon Appetite!