How long does Spag Bol keep in the fridge?

Thinking about making a batch to last 4 days - would it keep that long?

I’d be inclined to break it up into portions and freeze it Azz. I’m assuming you’d be cooking the pasta separately on each day?

2 Likes

My advice also. Apart from anything else you don’t want spag bol four days in a row.

I make about 5 meals at a time and freeze the sauce in individual portions. I put a bamboo steamer on top of the saucepan while the spaghetti cooks to defrost and heat a portion up. You need to test that, it might need a quick defrost blast in the microwave beforehand, you don’t want cold bol sauce.

3 Likes

Yep, I’ll be making pasta on the day :smiley:

I am not a fan of freezing tbh (it changes the protein structure). My freezer isn’t even plugged in because I never buy frozen foods :lol:

I don’t mind - will probable only do a batch once every couple of months or something :smiley:

1 Like

I wouldn’t keep it any longer than a couple of days in the fridge, but usually any leftovers get eaten the next day in our house.

1 Like

It will let you know when it has been kept cool for too long. It grows a fur coat to try and keep warm. :slight_smile:

4 Likes

Any time I am making marinara/spaghetti/ziti sauce, I prepare a large pot of it. Freezing it in portions, along with meatballs, hot sausage, or any meats means I have plenty of quick meals in the weeks ahead.
I also include a date taped to container so I am sure to use it within three months.

2 Likes

Four days at the most, as long as you chilled it straight away and cover it, but you’re pushing it!

You could portion it up and have it with pasta the first day, add some chilli to a portion and have it with rice on the second, add some cinnamon and nutmeg and have it with fried aubergine and cheese sauce like moussaka, then add some curry powder and have bobotie on the fourth!

If your not sick of it by then you never will be :rofl::rofl::rofl:

1 Like

Well wish me luck! I ended up making a large batch last night because there was only two days left on two packs of minced beef. I fast-cooled it by placing the pot in the sink with cold water running - it was ready to go in the fridge by the time I had eaten.

Thought I’d kill two birds with one stone as I needed to practice making a large batch for when I cook it for my sister and her boys. No wonder people buy the jar stuff tho - it took over 4 hours to make!!

1 Like

4 hours??

I make it in about 20 minutes. Perhaps not a fancy version but not a ready made jar either.

Did you use everything from scratch?

I use mince meat, diced onion, tomato paste, oregano, beef stock cubes and a tin of crushed tomatoes.

Brown the mince and onions, then add other ingredients and enough water to cover. Simmer for about 20 minutes while the pasta is cooking.

1 Like

I always freeze left over bolog sauce. Cbb about thinking of what it does. It tastes okay to me.

1 Like

I cook my bolognese sauce for approx 45 minutes. My husband lets it simmer for less time, about 30 minutes.
Although mince cooks very quickly, i find it has a richer, fuller taste if left to simmer for a bit longer, and all those herbs and spices get a chance to ‘infuse’. :grinning:

1 Like

Yep 4 hours :lol:

I make everything from scratch Helen, so do not use things like stock cubes (which are usually full of flavour enhancers etc).

Also…

Almost all of the authentic recipes I have seen say you must cook/simmer for at least 3 hours, with a minimum of 2, and I have found this to be about right - any less and it just does not taste as nice imo.

I think it took 4 hours because I doubled up on almost all of the ingredients, so it was quite a large batch.

1 Like

It seems a time management issue - four hours to make a meal that takes 5 minutes to eat? Let’s not even mention the washing up.

My spag bol probably takes half an hour to make, the pre-prepared ingredients are the Aldi Pasta sauce, dried oregano and Garum Masala, the chilli came from my garden, onions and minced beef from supermarket but I have 5 meals to freeze at the end of it. Probably not very bologneselike but I like spicy. :wink:

1 Like

One tin of plumb tomatoes, tomato puree, onion, garlic, thyme, oregano, extra virgin olive oil, Maldon salt, peppercorns whole, chillis, fresh basil when available and mince of course. Sometimes a dash of red wine.

Oh, and some freshly grated parmesan to sprinkle over the top! :drooling_face:

1 Like

I always simmer mine for at least an hour and a half

It maybe takes half an hour to prepare? So two hours usually but you can’t really count simmering time because you can get on with other stuff while it does it’s thing

I do use stock cubes, though

Are you boiling a sheep’s head up to make stock @Azz ? :rofl:

1 Like

I find I don’t actually need stock for this, and many of the authentic recipes I have seem don’t appear to either - here’s the recipe I have based mine off:

I have made bone broth/stock in the past tho Mary - I simmer it for 24 hours! :upside_down_face:

well, yes, if you do everything from scratch it would take longer.

I have no issue with stock cubes ,tins of crushed tomatoes, ready made tomato paste myself

yes I get that you could simmer it for hours while you do something else - of course that is like roasts or whatever - you have t o be home while oven is on but not actually attending to it.

I like spag bog as a relatively quick and easy meal though - so, though I dont use a ready made sauce, I do make a ‘simplified version’, as described in my last post which takes maybe 10 minutes to prepare (dicing onions, browning onions/meat, adding other ingredients) and 20 minutes cooking after that.

1 Like