Tomato-Garlic Beef Ragu
with Spaghetti and Parmesan
Traditionally, us Brits love the addition of a bit of Worcestershire sauce in our hotpots, pasta sauces and so on. Here at the Fresh Farm, we’re very taken with the idea of using soy sauce in a similar way. The savoury saltiness is a subtle but genius addition to this quick ragu. Can anyone guess your secret ingredient?
Boxes and ingredients are packed in facilities that handles Peanut, Nuts, Sesame, Fish, Crustaceans, Milk, Egg, Mustard, Celery, Soya, Gluten and Sulphites. Due to the war in Ukraine, it has been necessary to substitute sunflower oil with rapeseed oil in some products without a label change. The FSA have advised that allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are rare.
Ingredients
1
Courgette
(May contain Celery)
½
Yellow Pepper
2
Garlic Clove
½
Thyme
1
Onion
250
British Beef Mince
1
Soy Sauce
(Contains Cereals containing gluten, Soya)
¾
Italian Style Herbs
1
Chopped Tomatoes
200
Wheat Spaghetti
(Contains Cereals containing gluten)
20
Parmesan Cheese
(Contains Milk)
Nutritional information
Utensils
Instructions
Remove the top and bottom from the courgette. Halve lengthways and chop into 1cm cubes. Halve, then remove the core from the yellow pepper and chop into 1cm cubes as well.
Peel and grate the garlic (or use a garlic press). Pick the thyme leaves from their stalks (discard the stalks). Halve, peel and chop the onion into roughly ½cm pieces.
Put a splash of oil in a frying pan on medium heat and add the courgette, pepper, garlic and onion. Season with a pinch of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Cook until everything softens, 5 mins. Add the beef mince. Cook until browned, 5 mins. Use a wooden spoon to break it up as it cooks.
Once the beef has browned add the thyme leaves, soy sauce and Italian herbs. Cook for 1 minute more. Add the diced tomatoes, season with another pinch of salt and a few more grinds of black pepper. TIP: Add a glug of red wine to the ragu if you have some, it will add a great depth of flavour! Leave to simmer on medium-low heat until the sauce thickens, 15 mins.
Meanwhile, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil with a pinch of salt. Add the spaghetti to the boiling water and cook until 'al dente', about 10 mins. TIP: ‘Al dente’ simply means the pasta is cooked through but has a tiny bit of firmness left in the middle.
Drain the pasta in a colander and toss it in the ragu before serving in bowls and grating over plenty of parmesan cheese. Buon appetito!
