Home-Made Bolognese Sauce

I really owe it to Donna Hay, Australian food stylist & writer, for my love for food + photography. While I was still working with seventeen Magazine, my editor had put me in charge of the food column.

At first, panic. I've always heard stories about food styling. It sounded excruciating.

I remember that I kept it very simple the first month. I bought ready made stuff and focussed on making it look good. But as the months past, I found myself enjoying it more. I even started cooking. Making something look according to how I wanted it to be became a fanatical obsession.

No one would come near me when I was in the kitchen. I would wake up early in the morning to start. Pack it in my mother's picnic baskets, ferry it to work not before making sure every sauce, meat and morsel was safe and sound in my back sit.

The first thing I did when I arrived at the office was to go straight to the studios. I saw no one but the food and photographer the entire day. I would not be disturbed.

Yes, I can be cold and intense when I was 'in the zone'. So full of concentration I was that people would shrivel in fear just looking at me or at the sound of my bark.

Today, I am not so ... uptight. But I must say that Mr. G has suffered from The Look if he dared prod a finger in the picture out of jest. Poor man. I don't know if he's quite recovered yet.

Home-Made Bolognese Sauce
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• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 800g mince
• plain flour, for dusting
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1 can chopped tomato
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 5 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• sea salt

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
2. Add garlic, cook until fragrant and then add the onions. Stir till onions are slightly transparent and then remove from pan.
3. Add olive oil and increase heat to high.
4. Dust the mince in flour and cook until brown. Add the onion and garlic back in the pan.
5. Gradually add the wine, scraping the bottom of the pan. Cook for 1 - 2 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half.
6. Add tomatoes, paste, water, bay leaves, sugar and salt. Stir to combine.
7. Leave to cook until sauce is thick (approximately an hour).

For an exciting variation on how else to enjoy the ragu, click here to go to Happee Monkee.

Bolognese Puffs

Whoever said food is just food is either dull and uncreative or never had anything besides spaghetti-in-a-can. Nothing is a 'just'. No one is a 'just'. Food and people are exactly the same. What we are on the inside, we create and express to the external. Art, music, stories are no different from cooking.

So I salute all you food bloggers out there. You and your best friend - the camera.

My copy of Donna Hay finally arrived in the mailbox. I particularly enjoyed their osso busco recipe which I've adapted into ragu - Italian tomato-based meat sauce. It's hearty, wholesome and 'hmmm-so-good-for-the-soul'. Now, the twist to this is that you can have it in many ways. I've put it together with puff pastry and it's absolutely delicious! I couldn't wait to get it into my mouth. Which unfortunately did very little good to my mouth. :(

Home-Made Bolognese Sauce
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• olive oil
• 1 brown onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 800g mince
• plain flour, for dusting
• 1 cup dry red wine
• 1 can chopped tomato
• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 5 bay leaves
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• sea salt

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in a pan over medium heat.
2. Add garlic, cook until fragrant and then add the onions. Stir till onions are slightly transparent and then remove from pan.
3. Add olive oil and increase heat to high.
4. Dust the mince in flour and cook until brown. Add the onion and garlic back in the pan.
5. Gradually add the wine, scraping the bottom of the pan. Cook for 1 - 2 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half.
6. Add tomatoes, paste, water, bay leaves, sugar and salt. Stir to combine.
7. Leave to cook until sauce is thick (approximately an hour).

To assemble: You need one sheet of puff pastry. Cut it into half. Add ragu on one side of pastry. Fold it. Seal it by pressing down the edges with a fork. Brush some milk on it and put it in a preheated oven of 180C for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, be careful, as it will be very hot, and sprinkle some cheddar cheese on top. Return the puffs in the oven and bake for another 5 - 10 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden.