Zucchini Bolognese

I am currently sitting here eating a large bowl of very fine bolognese served over slivered zucchini and liberally coated in parmesan. As such, I couldn't resist writting something.

Firstly, keep it up guys! We are nearing the half way mark! By now your probably starting to get the hang of it, to figure out whats a tasty combination of food and what isn't, and probably getting your body a bit more used to burnign fat for most of the day, rather than the usual loading of sugars (read carbohydrates of all sources) it was being feed.

One of the major hypothesised advantages of a high-fat diet is that when you eat fat you burn fat (as thats what your eating) and as such your body is in a state of active fat burning. Thus if you don't get food, miss a meal, don't eat enough, or exercise alot, your body can easily turn this mechanism onto burning its own fat stores. This happens relatively seamlessly on a high fat diet, thus leaving you not feeling hungry or deprived. In contrst, if you eat a large amount of carbohydrates, as most do, your body is in an active state of sugar burnings (ALL carbohydrates are sugars, as I will explain in "Science 1001...does this mean we get to blow stuff up?"), thus by the time you have burnt or stored most of the carbohydrates you have eaten your blood sugar plummets and your body sluggishly trys to turn over to the fat-burning gear.

Its only an analogy for the true biochemical complexity that occures, that much I know, but I think its a good one. What's more when your blood sugar plummets and your sluggishly looking for more carbohydrates to get it back up, you often feel sensations of hunger, listlessness or a lack of energy of drive. I find these feelings to be lessed on a high fat diet. Thus a high fat diet (and high protein if you like) also tends to make it easier not to over eat, as the blood sugar imbalances, the subsequent insulin adjustment your body makes and the cascade of hormonal signals to hormones like leptin and ghrelin tend to leave you hungry. So by all means, continue to eat high carbohydrate it you want, just make sure your not giving into those hunger pangs. I on the other hand will go back to my delicious bolognese!


I myself have found over the last 12 dats ( although I am aware it is possible that it could all be placebo) that I have not been as hungry, and that if I have felt hungry it was never ravenously so. Of course, I'm eating a good three large meals a day off filling and satiated protein and fat, so maybe there are other factors causing it.But even though a big bowl of pasta might fill me up, it doesn't stave of the hunger down the track nearly as well!! What do you guys think? I'd be interested to hear your comments.

So, speaking of pasta, here is the bolognese recipe in question, which was created by my uncle and is one of my new personal favourites! I hope it helps you guys to keep on going, just as it does me!

P.S: While I often refer to it as a Bolognese, it's more of a rague of sorts I guess. Uncle Pete, when asked if I could use his secret family recipe said: "You can post the recipe, but only under the title of "Uncle Pete's guide to a Tasty Beef Stew""

So, without further adeiu i give you:

"Uncle Pete's guide to a Tasty Beef Stew":

Note: This is definitely NOT a traditional bolognese, where a cream sauce would be involved.It will feed four people and you can always extend the dish a little by serving more spaghetti [edit: Ahem, here he means "Zucchini" slivers, obviously just a simple typing mistake, easy to do!] and less sauce. I generally allow 100 to 120gm spaghetti [zucchini, oops there he goes again!] per hungry person. [indeed, feel free to go and have far more than one hundred grams of zucchini if you so desire. It is very energy scarce and full of nutrients, so the sky is the limit. I normally have between one and two whole zucchinis, if that’s the correct plural extension, per person]

• 500gm beef steak – I generally use a good piece of rump trimmed of all fat and sinew but other cuts are good, though they may need longer cooking to take the “bounce” out of the meat. The beef is chopped into 1cm cubes.
• 100 – 200 gm bacon or other smoked pork (e.g. speck or kaiserfleish) WITH the fat intact! [I’m thinking of starting a poll to see if Uncle Pete should represent us as our mascot. With statements like this he really should be!] Chop up as you see fit – long thin strips are an interesting variation.
• 200 – 400gm finely chopped onions. Three medium sized brown onions is what I'd normally use [I find this is sometimes a little too oniony, but its not a problem for me, but some people, cough cough laure, aren’t so fond of masses of onion]
• 4 – 6 cloves of fresh garlic, very finely sliced. You should have a knife as sharp as a razor to chop onions and garlic ( and anything else for that matter - so go get a knife and sharpener that really work!)
• 800gm peeled tomatoes ( I prefer canned Italian romas if I've exhausted my own preserves)
• 2 tablespoons of tomato concentrate (“Leggo's” tomato paste is the only one I've ever used, but if you've plenty of tomatoes at hand use them instead, but cook longer to reduce the water content of the dish.)
• 200 - 300 gm mushrooms, finely sliced
• approx 30 to 40 black pepper corns
• sea salt to taste (perhaps 1 teaspoon if using fresh tomatoes and a little less if using canned ones)
• 1 teaspoon dried Italian herb mix or use fresh rosemary, thyme, marjoram, oregano and sage as you see fit – but err on the side of caution. If using fresh herbs add them latter in the cooking process.
• 1 to 2 cups of bold red wine ( a Shiraz or Cabernet is the way to go).
• Heaps of grated Parmesan and chopped parsley.
• Olive oil

Essential equipment:

1 large saucepan or casserole dish with lid


[Scientific] Method:

1. In about 2 tablespoons of olive oil saute the pork a little before adding the onions and fry until slightly browned.
2. Add the garlic and dried herbs at this stage and fry a little longer with regular stirring. You don't want the onions or garlic to burn!
3. Set aside the mixture and clear the pan to fry the meat over a hot flame. Make sure the pan is very hot and you will need to add some more oil too.
4. Fry the cubed meat until if is browned all over. Do this in two or three batches if your stove can't handle it all in one go – most won't and the meat may stew over the reduced heat rather than fry. If this happens you'll just have to put up with it and try smaller portions next time. It helps if the steak is at room temperature too, rather than still chilled from the fridge.
5. Recombine the meat and onion mix, throw in the peppercorns and add the tomatoes.
6. Bring to the boil and them set to a gentle simmer.
7. Stir in the tomato paste (if using) and add the wine too.
8. Season with salt too taste
9. Add the sliced mushrooms and fresh herbs(if using) at this stage
10. Continue to cook for at least an hour, st iring every so often to make sure it's not sticking to the bottom – the last thing you want is for the bolognese to burn. Note: if in a rush, or the meat is really tender you might get away with 30 minutes. If the mix is too soupy take the lid off and let cook for longer until thick. If too dry (very rare) add some water to make sure the stew doesn't burn).
11. Cook your pasta to taste and serve out with as much sauce as you can spare per person.
12. Top with plenty of chopped parsley and finally the grated Parmesan.
13. The dish will be greatly appreciated with the remnants of the cooking wine, along with a second bottle, in many cases. [Of course, if you're concerned about carbohydrate intake I wouldn't recommend going through two bottles of wine in one sitting, even though I believe red wine is quite healthy due to its resveratrol content...a glass should suffice]
14. For those who like a crusty white bread [not sure what Pete meant here really, these words aren't in my vocabulary so I couldn't possibly fathom!] with such a stew, a Pane di Casa [I believe this translates as Zucchini of the house] is the way to go.

Notes:

In the rare event that there's left over sauce [very rare, take it from me], it will keep for a week or so in a good fridge and only get better. With that in mind it's often a great idea to make this dish a day or two before serving guests at a dinner party. This also allows for more time to deal with the fiddly bits of entertaining a hoard.

Did I mention that uncle Pete is an orc? That explains the whole Hoard thing. Anyway, there you go, the best chunky orcish Bolognese [I mean beef stew!] you could ask for.

You can of course play with this recipe as you see fit. I am currently trying it with kangaroo mince for example! I normally tend to double the recipe (bulk cooking is easy), and whenever I need a quick lunch (for work for example) I just cut up a few zucchinis quickly and throw them in the microwave for almost 2 minutes with a little water so they steam [and a lid of course…not to mention a bowl for those of you who aren’t catching on], and then throw a liberal amount of sauce on top and trudge off to work! Easy, delicious, probably nutritious…

Edit: The date on this is all off. I started it on the 26th of august, but didn't get far. Now I have finished it on the 2nd of september, so...for what its worth this post should be ahead of the other one!