Bolognese – Hold The Spaghetti

In traditional northern Italian cooking there’s not a spaghetti strand in sight!

SADLY we’re not going to see traffic jams at Ingliston, near Edinburgh, this year, as the wonderful Royal Highland Show has been cancelled. Next year, we’ll be happy to sit in a wee traffic jam if it means life is back to something resembling normality.

Scotland’s largest annual agricultural show, with almost 5000 livestock and 200,000 visitors is always June’s busiest weekend. It is a Scottish institution and its patron is HRH Princess Anne.

I’ve been told by a good source that one of her favourite dishes is Spaghetti Bolognese. Now as a traditionalist, this Italian Scots mama never has spaghetti with her Bolognese. Don’t be shocked, but it’s not a thing!

Spaghetti is a southern Italian pasta made with flour and water. Bolognese is a classic meat sauce from the northern city of Bologna. Here, pasta is made with eggs and the shape best suited for this sauce is pappardelle. Flat ribbons, not thin strings of spaghetti.

What I love about traditional dishes is they embrace all of nature. The classic Bolognese sauce is made with the best minced beef, but also a little heart or other offal to add flavour. They would use the whole of the beast, so nothing was wasted. I suppose a bit like the best steak pies which always have a little kidney.

The tradition of adding wine to Italian and French cooking is assumed to be standard for many dishes. Especially pasta sauces where, thanks to films like The Godfather, a good glug of red wine is added. It’s never been my way of cooking, but risotto and Bolognese do benefit from a splash.

Bolognese, however, should have white wine not red wine, and some milk to tenderise the meat before the wine is added. The idea is to add layers of flavour and never overpower. Here’s my recipe. There’s no heart in the ingredients, but I make it with a big heart as it’s my children’s favourite go-to pasta – with pappardelle of course!

With the world suffering so badly, make your Bolognese with a big heart, and be inspired by the Italian spirit of singing on our balconies to each other, even in the middle of this hardship.