Bolognese-Style Ragù for Doria, Pasta and Keema Curry, made with SN3

Spice Curry Symphony No.3 (SN3) makes this Bolognese-style ragù, and the doria, pasta and keema curry it becomes.

One day we set out to make a keema curry with Symphony No.3, and at the same time found ourselves wanting baked curry and pasta as well. A greedy sort of mood.

Which led to: in that case, let us make a sauce with SN3 that can turn into all sorts of dishes. A bolognese. And so this recipe came about.

Bolognese is a pasta dish that comes from the Italian city of Bologna; its proper name is ragù alla bolognese.

In Italian that means ragù in the style of Bologna — a sauce of minced meat, tomato, aromatic vegetables such as onion, and red wine, simmered together.

This is not an attempt to reproduce the authentic recipe. We have kept to ingredients you can get at the local market and to something you can put together quickly on a busy day — and with the spices and herbs of SN3 added, you can enjoy a proper, memorable dish at home.

Worth noting: SN3 contains two sets of spices, and a single set makes six servings of Bolognese-style ragù, so you get

• Day one: Bolognese-style keema curry
  
• Day two: Bolognese-style pasta (bolognese)
  
• Day three: Bolognese-style doria
  

— three days that are a pleasure just to think about. Do give it a go.

Making the Bolognese-style ragù

Ingredients (serves 6)

• SN3 / starter spices (the bag of whole spices): 1 bag
• SN3 / powder spices (the bag of ground spices): 1 bag
• Canned whole tomatoes: 2 cans (400g x 2)
• Onion: 1/2
• Carrot: 1/2
• Celery: 1
• Garlic: 1 clove
• Beef and pork mince: 300g
• Thick-cut bacon: about 30g
• Salt: 2 tsp
• Butter: 30g
• Grated hard cheese: 30g (Parmesan is fine, but a proper Parmigiano-Reggiano or Grana Padano gives a more authentic flavour)
• Milk: 100ml
• Olive oil: 3 tbsp
• Red wine: 100ml
  
  

Preparation

• Finely chop the garlic, onion, carrot, celery and thick-cut bacon (about 30g). Finely chop the celery leaves too and set them aside.

Method

1. Put the butter: 30g and olive oil: 3 tbsp in a pan over medium heat, and once the fat has warmed, add the garlic, onion, carrot, celery, thick-cut bacon (about 30g), salt: 1 tsp and the SN3 starter spices (the bag of whole spices): 1 bag and cook until they turn translucent.
   
   
2. Add the beef and pork mince: 300g and cook until it browns. (Thinking of it as searing the meat properly is what makes the difference.)
   
   
   
3. Add the red wine: 100ml and cook it through, thinking of it as driving the alcohol off completely.
   
   
4. Add the canned whole tomatoes: 2 cans, salt: 1 tsp, milk: 100ml and grated cheese: 30g, crush the whole tomatoes thoroughly as you stir, and bring it to the boil.
   
   
5. Once you see it come to the boil, add the SN3 powder spices (the bag of ground spices): 1 bag, stir them in, then add the celery leaves you set aside, cover the pan and simmer over medium-low heat for 20 minutes.
   
   
   
   
6. Take off the lid, turn the heat to medium and cook, letting the moisture evaporate, until it has reduced to a thick sauce.
   
   

   This step is the important one. Reducing it properly until it is a thick, concentrated sauce is the secret. As a guide, drive off the moisture until, when you draw a wooden spatula through the middle of the pan, the trail holds its shape.

   
   
   
7. Finally, taste and adjust the salt. Fishing the whole spices out of the pan (bay leaf, 3 cardamom pods, cassia) makes it easier to eat, and we recommend it.

Making the Bolognese-style keema curry

1. Spoon the Bolognese-style ragù over rice of your choosing.

That is it. If you can get fresh basil, chop some and scatter it over.

Making the Bolognese-style pasta (bolognese)

1. Put olive oil: 2 tbsp and the Bolognese-style ragù (about one ladleful per serving) in a frying pan over medium heat.
   
   
   
   
2. Once it is bubbling and hot, lower the heat and keep it warm.
   
   
3. Bring 2L of water and 1 tbsp of salt to the boil in a pan for the pasta.
   
   
4. Once it boils, start cooking as much pasta as you like, following its cooking time.
   (Lifting it out about 30 seconds before the stated time gives you just the right bite.)
   
   
5. As the pasta nears done, add about a ladleful of the cooking water to the frying pan from step 2 and mix it thoroughly into the sauce.
   
   
6. Add the drained pasta to the frying pan from step 5 and toss it through the sauce.

Grated cheese or basil on top makes for a livelier, better plate.

Making the Bolognese-style doria

1. Butter a heatproof dish, then pack in as much rice as you like.
   
   
2. Spread the Bolognese-style ragù over it.
   
   
3. Add the melting cheese.
   
   
   
4. Bake in an oven set to 240°C for 7 minutes.
   
   
5. Check the surface, and if the cheese has taken on good colour it is done. If not, bake for a further 5 minutes or so.