Main: Fifty-fifty Bolognese
The Sunday Magazine
Dessert: Vanilla Slice
Wendy’s version
Hello everyone,
Here we are slowly and gently entering back into the Wine Wednesday’s with the blessing of the Premier. I do hope you and yours remained well through this difficult and unusual time. Cooking was certainly something that people seemed to relish doing during the lockdown if the super market shelves were any indication. It’s funny how things work out because my oven died and I had to wait a month for the part so, in fact, the timing was rather good. I must say though I got very titchy towards the end because I had been collecting all these recipes from various magazines and papers (yes, more recipes) and I really wanted to try them.
What we have this week is a beautiful rich bolognese that is super healthy. It contains 50% vegies and 50% meat – this could be beef, chicken, pork or a combo.
The vegies are cooked a little at a time. The fragrance of the onion and garlic being cooked off for around 10 minutes really got my mouth watering before I even got to add the mince. The remainder of the vegies were added and then cooked for another 8 minutes before the meat of choice went in.
Mine was beef. Now I have usually made spag bol very quickly – a family staple and a fast meal on a busy night. Not so this one because it is simmered for one hour and this my loverlies makes for a smooth and flavoursome delight! Add some garlic bread and a simple salad and there was happiness not just for the food but also just for the joy of being together with at least two of the family. 10/10 was the score back on the board.
The beauty of the recipe is that it freezes so well and I also divided it in two and used the second half for a pie by simply popping it in a pie plate and using a sheet of puff pastry on the top, brushed with beaten egg. Mashed potato, peas and carrots added and you don’t get much more Aussie than that – all out of an Italian recipe.
Vanilla slice is something I have been trying to perfect for the longest time. My mother used to make it and I just loved it, however, I have never been able to get the same results so during the lockdown I did some experimenting and ended up combining a couple of recipes (from the Sunday paper and Women’s Weekly “Food”) and came up with the one I have attached to this weeks blog. I really think you are going to like it. It makes enough to feed 10 people and it’s not something that freezes well so save it for a time when you can have a larger gathering at home. One recipe called for one egg and the other called for 8 eggs which I considered to be rather extravagant – I used only two. Technically a vanilla slice is a french mille-feuille which is a thick custard sandwich and this recipe creates a soft slightly mushy version in the French style. It was absolutely scrumptious and will be a regular in our house from now on. 9/10 only because my younger son doesn’t like custard – seriously!
So everyone, we are now back in operation and I will chat to you next week – until then…..
From my table to yours with love x
