Jamie Oliver swears by a surprising ingredient for the perfect spaghetti bolognese in his twist on an old classic.
Bolognese is thought to have originated in the kitchens of Bologna, and was served in the northern Italian city as a topping for tagliatelle, the flat, thick pasta likened to ribbons, as per Prezzo.
The dish is now replicated all over the world, with purists often railing against any deviation from how it was made back in the day.
But others have decided to tweak elements of it to enhance certain flavours.
Oliver, one of the nation’s most famous TV chefs, is among them.
He suggests cooking six finely-sliced rashers of dry-cured higher-welfare smoked streaky bacon with the onions, garlic, and rosemary for five minutes, “or until softened, stirring occasionally” in the first step of his recipe on jamieoliver.com.
The other ingredients he suggests will be familiar to spaghetti bolognese veterans, and include staple elements like plum and sun-dried tomatoes, red wine, and minced beef.
Meanwhile, Michelin-starred chef Paul Foster has his own twist on the recipe.
He recommends adding milk to your bolognese sauce to give it a luscious, creamy texture without having to use cream.
Foster suggests adding the milk towards the end after the sauce is sufficiently reduced, stirring it in to achieve a thick and glossy sauce, and serving it with al dente pasta.
Foster shared his best bolognese recipe on TikTok insisting his method is “how to cook bolognese properly”.
Mary Berry goes for double cream, which she adds halfway through slow-cooking the bolognese, which she says provides a richer flavour.
The food writer and television presenter stirs in the cream after the sauce has been in the oven for an hour, explaining in BBC video: “Don’t worry, it doesn’t curdle or anything like that, it just enriches it. What I want to end up with is a fairly thick mixture.”
Berry then recommends putting it back in the oven for another hour, with the lid off and the meat should be tender and the sauce beautifully thickened after two hours.
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