Xmas Dinner: Beef Bolognese Linguine Made from Scratch

First blog for the year 2015!

Sorry my blog has been so quiet recently. My dearest BB was down with a very bad viral infection with high fevers that always spiked at night just before Xmas :'( While he was still recovering, his Daddy-O contracted conjunctivitis. & as I'm blogging this, I'm feeling under the weather myself..haiz! Not a very good start to the year but I'm sure it'll only get better from here on. Keep fighting!!!

We missed the Xmas party at our cousin's as we didn't want BB to spread the virus to the other young kids. In the end, we decided to do a mini celebration at home ourselves. My hubby picked his choice of bolognese spaghetti so he set out to buy the necessary ingredients. He actually searched high & low at a few NTUC & Cold Storage outlets before he managed to find all of them. 

I've made this dish countless of times & it has evolved over time. From the bottled sauces that I used to use before I was pregnant to canned tomatoes purée & whole tomatoes & to fresh tomatoes for BB's simplified version. To be honest, there's no turning back once you're gotten used to using fresh ingredients. Since it's for Xmas, it has to be even more special. Recipe was modified from Jamie Oliver's. Here it goes ;)

Ingredients (serve 2 adults):

300g of linguine

300g of fresh minced beef

7 medium tomatoes, puréed (refer to point 1 under Directions)

180g of sundried tomatoes

1 carrot, diced

1 large yellow onion, diced

1 clove of garlic, chopped finely

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

200mg of red wine (can be replaced with water if this is to be shared with your LO)

1 tsp of MasterFoods Spaghetti Bolognese Blend

Parmesan, grated

Directions:

1. Bring to boil a pot of water. Use a knife to carve a shallow "X" on the bottom of each tomato (mine was done at the sides but think it would be better if it's carved at the bottom instead). Add them to the boiling water for about 30 seconds. Remove the blanched tomatoes & allow them to cool a few minutes till it's cool enough for you to gently pull away the skin at the X which will come off easily. Cut into quarters & purée them in a processor (I'm using my Avent Combined Steamer & Blender).

2. Add some EVOO to pan then add garlic, followed by carrot & onion. Stir occasionally till they start to soften.

3. Add the minced beef & break down any lumps with your spatula. Let it cook for a few minutes till it starts to brown then pour in the wine.

4. Let it bubble away while you drain & blitz away the sundried tomatoes in a processor. Add them to the pan with the puréed tomatoes & mix well. Cover with lid & cook for 1 hour.

5. About 10 minutes to the countdown, cook pasta in a pot of simmering water as per instructed till al dente. Drain & reserve some of the pasta water (which I forgot to do so..hee).

6. Add the cooked linguine to the sauce, add in grated Parmesan & mix well, adding a splash of the pasta water if it's too dry. Shave a little Parmesan on top & serve immediately.

This recipe is definitely a keeper! Hope you'all will enjoy it as much as we did ;)

Beneficial Combination:

Garlic + Onion = Detoxication & anti-cancer effects

Harmful Combination:

Carrot + Onion = Easily lead to goiter (enlargement of thyroid)