This has been my go to recipe for spaghetti Bolognese now for over a year. It’s from a wonderful blog called Spend With Pennies which I’ll link at the bottom in case you’d like to explore further. I just love the sheer amount of herbs within this recipe, it really makes it so flavourful. I really don’t think there is much to improve on this original recipe however we do like to add some bacon in my house but this is down to personal preference. I also like to add in a finely chopped red pepper just to get some extra veggies in there.

Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 onion (finely chopped)
• 200g bacon lardons
• 1 red pepper
• 500g lean mince beef
• 400g crushed tomatoes
• 4 tbsps tomato purée
• 3 beef stock cubes
• 1 cup water
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 3 tsp oregano
• 2 tsp dried thyme
• 3 bay leaves
• Salt and pepper to taste
• spaghetti

Recipe

1. Select the ‘sear / sauté’ option on your cooker. Heat a tsp of olive oil and then add your mince in to brown. Once browned remove and place on a plate for later.

2. Keeping your cooker switched to ‘sauté’ add chopped onion and bacon lardons in to soften and brown.

3. Crush 4 cloves of garlic into the cooker and mix in with the onions. Add in chopped red pepper and allow to soften.

4. Add the mince beef back into the cooker and stir it altogether.

5. Add in the remaining ingredients – chopped tomatoes, tomatoe purée, water, beef stock cubes, Worcestershire sauce, oregano, thyme and bay leaves and mix together.

6. Put the pressure lid on with the vent turned to ‘vent’. Select the ‘slow cooker’ option. Select hi for 4 hours. Alternatively cook on low for 8 hours.

7. Bring a pan of water to the boil and add your spaghetti. Following the instructions on the packet, I think it roughly takes between 10 and 12 minutes to cook depending on the way you like it.

Serve with some yummy garlic bread. I know the original recipe advises to add the spaghetti into the sauce prior to serving which isn’t something I’ve actually tried yet. I’ll have to give it a go and get back to you. Here is the link to the original article with the recipe this has been adapted from as promised. I hope you will enjoy this meal as much as I do.