Hey everyone! How are we all? Today, I am bringing you Shredded Beef Bolognese. A wicked, super tasty and exciting dish. Now, I am sure most people would love and appreciate a well-cooked spaghetti bolognese. But at the same time, everyone is so familiar with it and I find that it can be tough to really impress people with a dish like that. But if you tell your guests that you are making shredded beef bolognese, suddenly you get this wow factor (at least I hope you do). And honestly, cooking the meat slowly in the sauce, and making it tender enough to shred, is the only aspect of the dish I have changed. But such a small change can make such a big difference.
Now, if you have already read the recipe, you may have noticed that it takes 8 HOURS TO COOK! WHAT!? Yes, but remember this is a Slow Cooker recipe. And I’m sure I don’t have to explain the point of a slow cooker recipe, long cooking but little effort (okay I guess I just did explain it). But the beauty of this dish is that you prep your ingredients, brown the meat, make the sauce, put it all together in the slow cooker and then just leave it to do its thing throughout the day. By the time it’s done, dinner is ready.
Just one quick note I want to mention even though it says it in the recipe. But my chuck steak had quite a lot of fat throughout it. So once my 8 hours were up cooking the bolognese, there was quite a lot of fat on the surface, so make sure you use your ladle to skim that fat off and don’t rush that step. Otherwise, your guests will need to use a napkin every 10 seconds to wipe their oily lips.
Thank you all so much for the time you have spent on my blog. By the way, most of my previous posts have no comments, and I have no idea why. I am just mentioning this because I don’t want anyone to think that I have disabled comments or anything like that. And if you were to write a comment, it may not show up on the blog but it will show up on my dashboard so I will be able to read it. I always love reading your comments and I still respond to every single one. Fear not though, I will have this problem solved soon. Oh and get pumped for a valentines day recipe in the near future!
- 1kg of chuck steak
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 brown onion peeled and finely chopped
- 2 carrots peeled and finely chopped
- 1/2 a stick (about 50g) of celery finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped
- 2 tins of plum tomatoes
- ¼ cup of red wine
- ½ a tablespoon of dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons of tomato paste
- 1½ cups of beef stock
- A pinch of ground nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon of brown sugar
- 500g of spaghetti
- 20-30g of parmesan cheese grated
- A good handful of fresh basil roughly chopped
- Crusty bread to serve
- Salt and pepper for seasoning
- Pre-heat a pot or a large pan on high heat. Season the chuck steak on both sides with salt and pepper. Add half of your olive oil to the pot, then add your steak and fry for a couple of minutes on each side, ensuring that you get some nice colour on the steak.
- Transfer the steak to a slow cooker.
- Turn the heat on the pot/pan down to medium heat and add the other half of your olive oil. Then, add your onions, carrot, celery and garlic and fry for a couple of minutes. Next, add your tinned tomatoes, red wine, dried oregano, tomato paste, beef stock, nutmeg and brown sugar. Use your spatula or wooden spoon to break down all of the plum tomatoes. Bring the sauce to a boil on high heat, then turn the heat down and simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes. Transfer the tomato sauce to the slow cooker in with the meat. Cook on low heat for about 8 hours.
- When the bolognese is almost done, get 5L of water in a pot, then add 2 teaspoons of salt. Bring the water to a boil, then add your spaghetti. Cook for 9 minutes until al dente, then drain.
- Once your 8 hours are up, take a good look at the sauce to see if there is any oily fat that has risen to the top from the steak. If there is, just skim it off with a ladle and throw it away (in the bin, not the sink).
- Use a couple of forks to shred the meat.
- Season the bolognese to taste with salt and pepper.
- Add the pasta and the basil to your bolognese sauce and stir through until well combined.
- Serve your shredded beef bolognese with the grated parmesan and crusty bread. Enjoy
Hope you enjoyed this Shredded Beef Bolognese. If you did, then you may also like this Crumbed Sausage and Hidden Veggie Pasta.
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