5 Meals Using Leftover Bolognese Sauce

Simmering pot of bolognese sauce

Spaghetti bolognese is a very popular dish in my house. The kids like how it tastes, and I like how I can eke a few meals out of a few inexpensive ingredients, making it a very useful for frugal cooking. I also like that I can slip a few extra veggies in but I don't tell the boys that.

Invariably, I always cook about twice as much sauce as we need for one meal. This isn't a bad thing because a bolognese sauce can be used for so much more than just ladling on spaghetti.

1. Lasagne

I use the exact same sauce for a lasagne that I use for a spaghetti bolognese.

You will need:

• Box of non-cook lasagne sheets - these can be layered in the sauce and don't need to be pre-cooked. 
• Tub of ricotta cheese
• Ball of mozarella cheese
• Parmesan cheese
• Fresh herbs - thyme, basil, and oregano (if you can find them, otherwise dried will work)
• Milk
• Black pepper to season

Method:

• Place the ricotta, a tablespoon or so of grated parmesan, a bit of grund black pepper, and the finely chopped fresh herbs (or dried) into a bowl. Add just enough milk to loosen the cheese enough to spread easily. 
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• Ladle a small amount of sauce into a casserole dish. Cover over with the lasagne sheets, spoon a bit more sauce over the top. Add a layer of the ricotta mixture. Then repeat with sheets, sauce and ricotta. 
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• Finish up with a layer of sauce over the top then shred the mozzarella and spread that plus another tablespoon or so of grated parmesan over the top.
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• Preheat the oven to 180c/350f/gas mark 4. Bake the lasagne for about 30 - 45 minutes, until it is hot and bubbling, and the cheese is melted and browned across the top.

 2. Pasta bake

Similar to a lasagne, but without the fuss of layering.

You will need:

• Cooked pasta - I use farfalle or penne, but anything you have in the cupboard would work.
• Mozzarella or a combination of favourite cheeses
• Parmesan cheese (optional)

Method:

• Cook the pasta, drain and combine with the sauce. 
• Stir in chunks of cheese
• Spoon into a casserole dish and sprinkle the top over with parmesan, if desired. 
• Bake in a preheated oven at 350f/180c/gas mark 4 for about 30 minutes, until the top is browned and the dish is hot and bubbling. 

3. Pizza

A quick meal that can be as easy or as complicated as you desire.

Home made pizza

You will need:

• Pizza bases, make your own or buy ready-made
• Favourite grated cheeses
• Assorted meats and vegetables for toppings
• Fresh thyme and basil, roughly chopped
• Ground black pepper
• Olive oil

Method:

• Place the base on a baking sheet
• Spoon some of the sauce and spread over the pizza base. 
• Add on any toppings you want
• Add on a bit of cheese
• Sprinkle over some of the fresh herbs, a bit of black pepper, and a drizzle of olive oil
• Bake in a preheated oven at 350f/180c/gas mark 4 for about 10 - 15 minutes. 

For an even quicker, child-friendly, mini-pizza lunch idea, spoon a bit of the heated sauce over slices of bread (I will sometimes use a round cutter to create rounds of bread, add a bit of cheese, and tuck under a medium-hot grill for a few minutes until the cheese is melted and starting to brown.

4. Jacket potato

This makes a nice lunch-time meal, or a simple mid-week evening meal

You will need:

• Baking potato, one per person
• Favourite cheese, optional

Method:

• Bake whole potatoes in the oven or microwave until soft inside
• Spoon over some of the heated sauce, and sprinke with a bit of cheese if desired. 
• Serve with a fresh salad

 

5. Omelette

This works equally well for any meal in the day.


You will need:

• Eggs
• Butter
• Cheese

Method:

• Whisk 2- 3 eggs until frothy, add in a touch of milk if desired
• Melt butter in a skillet over a medium-high heat
• Pour in the egg mixture and let cook untilnearly set all the way through
• As the eggs cook, gently lift at the sides to allow more of the uncooked egg to run underneath.
• When nearly cooked through, spoon some of the heated sauce over one half of the omelett, sprinkle over some of the cheese. 
• Fold the other half of the egg over the sauce and serve immediately
• You can have this as is for breakfast or brunch, or add a green salad for a complete lunch-time or evening meal.

Langoustines, scallops, and salmon

When I go grocery shopping I make a point of stopping where all the discounted meats and fish are placed each day, just to see if I can find any good deals.

Langoustines

Today I found 2 discounted seafood items, scallops and langoustines. Scallops I've had many times and absolutely love.

I've never tried langoustine though. While it is sometimes called a Dublin Bay Prawn, it is actually a type of lobster. It can be found in the waters around Scotland but until recent years the majority of the catch was actually sold and eaten in France and other parts of Europe.

I've started seeing it at the fish counter in the past few years, but have always passed it over for more familiar seafood. When I found it today though it seemed the perfect time to try this seafood for myself.

After looking at various recipes and ideas on how to cook a langoustine, I decided to do something very simple. The result was this dish.

Langoustine in a creamy garlic butter over pasta

Langoustine in a creamy garlic butter sauce over pasta

 

 Pictured here served with salmon fillet and scallops

Serves 2
Cooking time: less than 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 slices streaky bacon, cut into pieces
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoon crushed garlic
• 4 spring onions, cut into thin rings
• tails of 6 langoustine, removed from shell and cut into 1/2 - 1 inch pieces
• 4 tablespoon creme fraiche
• salt and pepper to taste
• cooked spaghetti

Method

1. Remove shells from langoustine tails, rinse and cut into bite-size pieces. 
2. Heat the oil and butter in a saute pan, add the bacon and cook until it begins to crisp. 
3. Add in the garlic and spring onions, and cook until the onions begin to soften. 
4. Add the langoustine pieces, let cook 4 - 5 minutes turning occasionally. 
5. Let simmer another 4 - 5 minutes. 
6. Add in 4 tablespoons creme fraiche, season to taste. 
7. Toss in cooked pasta (I used spaghetti)



Really enjoying his dinner

8. Serve hot

I cooked the salmon fillets and the scallops in the same garlic butter but removed those from the pan before adding the creme fraiche to make a creamy sauce.

My youngest son loved this dish and gave it two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

Bolognese Sauce

Like any parent, I try to make sure my kids eat reasonably healthy, including a selection of fresh fruit and

Thing 1 enjoying bolognese sauce

vegetables each week. One surefire way I have for getting my kids to eat veggies is to make a bolognese sauce.

It doesn't matter what I put in the pot, they will eat it. My eldest son once told me "Mum, you're the only person I know that puts carrots in a bolognese sauce."

I can cook this sauce up in an hour, or let it sit and simmer for a long while over an afternoon while I get on and do other things.  Personally, I prefer to let it slow simmer for at least 2 hours, and like many other sauces it improves even more if you can let it rest overnight.

This sauce can be used for more than just covering spaghetti (the favourite meal in our house). I also use it for topping jacket potatoes, in a pasta bake, and as a quick and simple topping on home made pizzas.

It also freezes well, so it can be made in bulk and divided into portions.

Bolognese Sauce

Ingredients

Bolognese sauce

• 2 large onions, chopped
• 2 bell peppers (any colour), seeded and chopped
• 1 medium aubergine (eggplant), chopped
• 1 medium courgette (zucchini), chopped
• 8 - 12 mushrooms, chopped
• 4 - 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• Optional: 2 slices smoked dry cure streaky bacon, cut into pieces
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 500 gm lean minced beef 
• 2 tablespoons double concentrated tomato puree (tomato paste)
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 - 2 teaspoon salt
• 6 - 8 whole black peppercorns (or 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper)
• 1 pinch chilli flakes
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 carton plain passata (tomato puree)
• 1 handful fresh basil, chopped (2 teaspoon dried)
• 1 handful fresh thyme, chopped (2 teaspoon dried)
• 1 handful fresh parsley, chopped (2 teaspoon dried)
• 1 handful fresh oregano, chopped (2 teaspoon dried)

Method:

1. Chop all of the vegetables.
2. Heat olive oil in a large pot, add the bacon if using. 
3. Once the oil is heated, or the bacon begins to crisp, add the chopped vegetables. 
4. Cook, stirring every few minutes, until the vegetables are softened. 
5. If necessary, remove the cooked vegetables to a bowl. Add the mince and cook until browned. 
6. Add in the tomato puree and stir for 1 - 2 minutes. 
7. Crush the salt, peppercorns, fennel seeds, chilli flakes, and any dried herbs using a mortar and pestle.
8. Add this to the meat. Stir. 
9. Add back the cooked vegetables. Stir.
10. Add in the tinned tomatoes and tomato puree. Stir. 
11. Rinse out the tin and the carton with 1/2 - 1 tin of water and add that to the sauce. 
12. Bring it all up to a boil, then reduce the heat and let it simmer for at least 30 minutes or as long as you want. 
13. If you're simmering it for a longer length of time, use more water. 
14. Just before serving, remove it from the heat. Stir in the fresh herbs. 
15. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. 

Serve hot.