...spaghetti a la Della Bosca

I have been on leave the last couple of days (and working a little more friendly hours the days before that) so have been place on dinner cooking duty. And while I like to bake and cook some things the daily dinner part of it has never been my favourite thing to do - and deciding what to eat, really no fun.

So earlier this week saw me wandering Woolworths about 4:30 looking for inspiration when I decided we would have Spagetti a la Della Bosca. I am sure this dish has a real name but I don't know what it is. When I was growing up that is what it was called, named for the family of one of  my Mum's bridesmaids who gave her the recipe. Which also means it is not specific and isn't written down anywhere in a cookbook I can search online with my phone while I'm at the shops.

So there I was, calling Mum, Dad and anyone else that might have been able to clarify the ingredients list to save me coming home, checking out my hand scralled directions and coming back. I'm posting this here now to share it with you - and stop me ever needing to do that again!

Spaghetti a la Della Bosca


butter
onion, diced
garlic, crushed
750g gravy beef, trimmed and cut into small chunks
1tsp Allspice
salt
3/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup claret or red wine
parmesan cheese and pasta to serve


Melt the butter in a large heavy based pan and cook the onion and garlic until soft. Try not to brown them, so low temperature for about 10 minutes works for me. 

Add the beef, salt allspice and enough water to almost cover the meat (the amount of water you add now will affect the saucyness later). Simmer, uncovered, for about 30 minutes. 

Add the tomato paste, claret and simmer for another 20-30 minutes until beef is tender and the sauce has thickened (simmer a little longer if you want thicker sauce or you added a little too much water earlier)

Serve atop cooked pasta and sprinkle with a little freshly grated parmesan cheese.