Until moving to London, I made a frequent point of cooking and trying out new things. Partly, as a result of cooking for a girlfriend who is less likely to settle for pasta or rice every night of the week. Moving to London resulted in losing both cooking facilities and utensils that I had previously relied on. With a set of knives and sauce pan left from last year’s residents I have managed to get by so far.
Over winter break, I decided that I needed to step up the cooking game. Considering that I eat 90% of my meals at home, a little effort could go a long way. Also, living in a part of London with almost immediate access to the Borough Market, an abundance of fresh ingredients are at my disposal.
For my first foray back into cooking, I decided to take inspiration from what has been my staple – pasta. A good meat sauce is my favorite addition to some properly cooked pasta and parmesan cheese. Additionally, a traditional ragu sauce requires several hours of cooking, legitimizing this as a real attempt at making something.
Two recipes, found online, guided this experiment. The first provided the outline for the ingredients and steps, the second provided some guidance on using fresh tomatoes instead of canned. All of the ingredients, aside from salt, pepper, olive oil, and wine were purchased from the Borough Market in Southwark, London.
Note: I make no claim to the authenticity of this recipe and the list of ingredients is largely inspired from the first recipe (linked to above).
400g x Ground Beef
100g x Streaky Unsmoked Bacon
24 x Vine Tomatoes
1 x Large Onion
3 x Garlic Cloves
3 x Bay Leaves
1 x Rosemary Stalks
Red Wine
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
The vegetables and herbs were purchased from Elsey and Bent and the meat was purchased from the Ginger Pig, both within the market.
1. Chop the tomatoes into smallish cubes (I list this first because it will take a while and you don’t want to leave everything else on the burner too long)
2. Turn a stove burner on medium heat and place a large pot on it (large enough to fit all of the ingredients)
3. Pour about two tablespoons of oil into the bottom of the pot (eye this up, enough to cook your onion, garlic, and bacon in)
4. Finely chop the onion, garlic, and bacon. Place these ingredients in the pot and cook for about 10 minutes. Avoid over-cooking the garlic.
5. Add the tomatoes, about a glass and a half of wine, the bay leaves, and the rosemary.
6. Cook for about 2.5 – 3 hours, stirring every half hour. Add a bit of oil if the sauce sticks to the pot. If the sauce seems quite thick about an hour in add a dash of wine, but don’t overdo it.
7. Add basil, salt, and pepper in the last 15 minutes of cooking.
Enjoy! Serves 6-8 people.
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