Too much Bolognese : what to do with it ?

psychward

Because I had ingredients which were about to expire and picked up mince in Bargain corner of the supermarket I made so much bolognese I am sick of it now. It's really tasty and flavorful packed full of real tomatoes etc but I am getting meal fatigue. The freezer simply will not take any more frozen food either.

Any suggestions as to what I can do with it ? For the last 2 days I have been filling baked potatoes with it. I am not in the mood for pasta at all...

annamcmahon

Add some chilli and have it with rice or couscous.

Mary-Ellen

Gently simmer to thicken and have it in wraps with salsa, lettuce, onion and cheese

Darkginger

Take out something from the freezer to eat, and fill the space it leaves with bolognese? Either that, or make a calzone, stuffed with the sauce.

Tree

Pile it on bread and cover in cheese and grill it. Better yet, put garlic butter onthe bread first...

Jezek

Get some good burger buns or baps and have some sloppy joes!

Birdie086

Jezek wrote: »

Get some good burger buns or baps and have some sloppy joes!

I always wondered what sloppy joes were!

joanofarc

make a load of pasta and add bol, put a portion each into plastic cups/ bowls etc and drive around your local town and give to homeless....on these cold nights you will be doing them a great favour.

psychward

joanofarc wrote: »

make a load of pasta and add bol, put a portion each into plastic cups/ bowls etc and drive around your local town and give to homeless....on these cold nights you will be doing them a great favour.

I thought about that but I live in the city centre and this week between Temple Bar and Capel Street have seen the following :

2 foreigners with girlfriends offer to buy a ''homeless guy'' fish and chips instead of give him money (perhaps to impress the girlfriend ?)

1 Irish guy offer to buy a ''homeless guy'' a sandwich


The response in both cases was ''fu(k off'' ...... I won't draw any conclusions but it doesn't encourage one. I also happen to know they can get a 3 course meal for 60 cents in Temple Bar at the Focus Centre in addition to their dole.


I put the bolognese into some wraps, added some cheese and fried onions and toasted it in my George Foreman grill which heated the bolognese up and melted the cheese into the mix of bolognese and onions. It was edible, quick and easy but I am really really sick of the taste of bolognese now... no matter what I do with it. I still have one feed left even after shoving 3 or 4 days worth into the freezer. I stocked up on bargains over Easter and planned to spend no time cooking as exams were running but to just nuke various healthily made and frozen curries, sweet and sour chicken etc in the microwave therefore my freezer is very full.

Lola92

Layer it with bechamel (sp?) sauce and pasta sheets and bake to make a lasagne! Lovely with a green salad and some coleslaw or garlic bread.

GaryIrv93

Maybe if there's a few cats that hang around your area then maybe leave it out for them - they'd do a great job of finishing off unwanted meat. I'd leave it a good bit away from the house as any cat who finds it in your garden will likely come back tomorrow for more, and they'll be looking to be fed every night.

neuro-praxis

psychward wrote: »

I thought about that but I live in the city centre and this week between Temple Bar and Capel Street have seen the following :

2 foreigners with girlfriends offer to buy a ''homeless guy'' fish and chips instead of give him money (perhaps to impress the girlfriend ?)

1 Irish guy offer to buy a ''homeless guy'' a sandwich

The response in both cases was ''fu(k off'' ...... I won't draw any conclusions but it doesn't encourage one. I also happen to know they can get a 3 course meal for 60 cents in Temple Bar at the Focus Centre in addition to their dole.

Wow. You know what - the cooking and recipes forum isn't really the space for your anti-homeless propaganda. Some people actually are homeless as opposed to scam artists, but just the same that doesn't mean they need to accept anything that just anyone wants to give them.

And joanofarc's idea was surprising and kind.

On topic, how about using the meat sauce as a pizza topping? Pizza base, bolognese on top, jalapenos, mozzarella and bake?

psychward

neuro-praxis wrote: »

Wow. You know what - the cooking and recipes forum isn't really the space for your anti-homeless propaganda. Some people actually are homeless as opposed to scam artists, but just the same that doesn't mean they need to accept anything that just anyone wants to give them.

And joanofarc's idea was surprising and kind.

On topic, how about using the meat sauce as a pizza topping? Pizza base, bolognese on top, jalapenos, mozzarella and bake?

joanofarc's idea was one I had already agonized over many times whenever I had wasted food in the past.
It is bad and aggressive of you to call my true story a propaganda. In fact it is unwelcome. I gave my reason for not giving it away and it was valid. No need for you to bring your naivety and the chip on your shoulder into my thread.

neuro-praxis

psychward wrote: »

It is bad and aggressive of you to call my true story a propaganda. In fact it is unwelcome. I gave my reason for not giving it away and it was valid. No need for you to bring your naivety and the chip on your shoulder into my thread.

There's irony for you. Feel free to report my post.

psychward

neuro-praxis wrote: »

There's irony for you. Feel free to report my post.

nahh I'm not an overly sensitive oh so precious snitch who creates work for mods like many (but not the majority) I've bumped into on here. You seem to be far more more judgemental than I am with far less experience of city centre living from day to day ( a 1920s depression era movie doesnt' give todays picture in 2012). Nowhere have I ever promoted the abandoning of our fellow man.

I think I will go for the Sloppy Joes . I picked up some baps earlier, expiry date tomorrow. 30% off in Lidl Bargain corner.

Thanks to everyone for the recipe suggestions !!!

Mr Magnolia

Back on topic please folks.

Martyn1989

Bolognaise is one of the best dishes for freezing if you ask me, take something out and seperate whats left into portions and freeze it (as mentioned above). You'll be glad you did when you get in from a long day and just have to stick some pasta on to boil.

unkel

annamcmahon wrote: »

Add some chilli and have it with rice or couscous.

That's what I do regularly. Add a tin of kidney beans and / or sweetcorn, add chili and have it with rice. Even when the bolognese sauce is frozen, you'd have a meal in 20 minutes

rubadub

psychward wrote: »

The freezer simply will not take any more frozen food either.

If you get decent plastic bags you can fill them, squeeze the air out and tie them and they will sit & shape into any nooks & crannies left in the freezer. It is best to keep a freezer fairly full anyway as warm air does not rush into the empty space every time you open it. I nick the butchers bags at the meat counter in tesco, most vegetable bags have holes in them.

pickarooney

Crepesagne - make 10 crepes and build alternate layers of crepe, bechamel, bolognaise.

psychward

unkel wrote: »

That's what I do regularly. Add a tin of kidney beans and / or sweetcorn, add chili and have it with rice. Even when the bolognese sauce is frozen, you'd have a meal in 20 minutes

Sounds good but wouldn't that kind of approach bulk out my sauce even more when the problem was having too much of it ?
By ''chili'' what is meant exactly ? Extra sauce or just the flavor ? I made my bolognese a touch spicy this time as I wanted to use up the remainder of some Tabasco sauce.

rubadub wrote: »

If you get decent plastic bags you can fill them, squeeze the air out and tie them and they will sit & shape into any nooks & crannies left in the freezer. It is best to keep a freezer fairly full anyway as warm air does not rush into the empty space every time you open it. I nick the butchers bags at the meat counter in tesco, most vegetable bags have holes in them.

This is what I started doing in December/January. I bought ''Freezer Bags'' in Lidl. Something like 30 strong bags for not much more than a Euro and a half with air tight sealable ends. They are strong enough to be reusable and I have reused them. Any steaks/chicken breasts etc I picked up I tightly pack into them. A regular meat packet has an awful lot of air for some reason and I don't know why this unnecessary bulk hasn't been identified as a cost to be eliminated.
I am really at the limit of my freezer compartment now and that's what caused the problem. When I find a huge chicken like 1.7KG for 2 euro I can't resist taking it home and freezing it and I seem to be in tune with where to find bargains in Dublin. Sharing space with a huge chicken, 2 freezer compartments are filled with about 12 sealed tupperware frozen preparations e.g Bolognese, Chicken Curry, Sweet and Sour Chicken, Irish Stew, Carbonara etc and everything made healthily with fresh ingredients (before being frozen) and attention to detail. This will get me through exam time in a few weeks plus will eliminate having to clean up any mess afterwards which apart from time is the only downside of cooking for me. I don't have anything in there like Pizza or frozen chips, no empty calories really.

annamcmahon

By add chilli I meant add a squeeze from a tube of chilli puree just to give it a slightly different flavour. I also second the sloppy joes suggestion. That's the main way we use up leftover bolognese here.

Giselle

Use it to top baked potatoes, or make ravioli if you are handy with pasta.

Darkginger

Just how much of this bolognese is there? It was 2 days old when the original post was made..5 days on, it's a week old - I'm rather hoping it's been eaten by now! OP - next time you find a bargain huge chicken, joint it before freezing, bag the breasts, thighs, drumsticks and wings separately,and make stock from the carcass - reduce it down so there's not a lot to freeze. All in all it takes up less room than a whole chicken. Save the thighs and wings until you've done this enough times to have enough in the bag for a meal.

Those Lidl bags are great - I've just run out of them and need to restock!

Alun

psychward wrote: »

A regular meat packet has an awful lot of air for some reason and I don't know why this unnecessary bulk hasn't been identified as a cost to be eliminated.

It's not air it's a so-called "protective atmosphere", i.e. air with most of the oxygen removed and replaced either with nitrogen or CO2, with the aim of stopping the contents from going off. It's bulkier than vacuum packing, but I'm guessing may be more expensive and makes the goods look less attractive to the customer.

psychward

Darkginger wrote: »

Just how much of this bolognese is there? It was 2 days old when the original post was made..5 days on, it's a week old - I'm rather hoping it's been eaten by now! OP - next time you find a bargain huge chicken, joint it before freezing, bag the breasts, thighs, drumsticks and wings separately,and make stock from the carcass - reduce it down so there's not a lot to freeze. All in all it takes up less room than a whole chicken. Save the thighs and wings until you've done this enough times to have enough in the bag for a meal.

Those Lidl bags are great - I've just run out of them and need to restock!

Thanks for the tip about making space. Luckily the Bolognese is finally gone. It was like an eating contest on the food channel towards the end

I had found a 1 and a half KG of mince in Dunnes bargain section for
one euro which is rare enough for them to reduce. Then it was bulked up with a tin of chopped tomatoes, tomato paste , tomato sauce and fresh tomatoes which were approaching a best before. And I had put in some chopped bacon fried in olive oil with chopped onions so it was a pretty huge pot plus some patented secret ingredients . The girlfriend has gone to visit her mother while I focus on exams so I didn't even have anyone to share it with. I took out one of the frozen chickens to defrost slowly in the refrigerator compartment while I finished off some bolognese and also stacked a few tupperware trays in the freezer but still couldn't get them all in as I still pick up bargains all the time. Now my problem will be how to tackle the chicken. It's been sitting in the fridge part but is still frozen. Normally if I had space I would roast it with potatoes, eat all the potatoes and a breast, drain off the stock/grease and cut up the leftovers. Then the leftovers would go into a sandwich for a packed lunch and typical meals like stir fries (fried in the saved chicken stock grease) of which I usually make too much and freeze half. But this time I think it will just be one dinner plus a few days of sandwiches as I can't find space to freeze.

confusticated

psychward wrote: »

Thanks for the tip about making space. Luckily the Bolognese is finally gone. It was like an eating contest on the food channel towards the end

I had found a 1 and a half KG of mince in Dunnes bargain section for
one euro which is rare enough for them to reduce. Then it was bulked up with a tin of chopped tomatoes, tomato paste , tomato sauce and fresh tomatoes which were approaching a best before. And I had put in some chopped bacon fried in olive oil with chopped onions so it was a pretty huge pot plus some patented secret ingredients . The girlfriend has gone to visit her mother while I focus on exams so I didn't even have anyone to share it with. I took out one of the frozen chickens to defrost slowly in the refrigerator compartment while I finished off some bolognese and also stacked a few tupperware trays in the freezer but still couldn't get them all in as I still pick up bargains all the time. Now my problem will be how to tackle the chicken. It's been sitting in the fridge part but is still frozen. Normally if I had space I would roast it with potatoes, eat all the potatoes and a breast, drain off the stock/grease and cut up the leftovers. Then the leftovers would go into a sandwich for a packed lunch and typical meals like stir fries (fried in the saved chicken stock grease) of which I usually make too much and freeze half. But this time I think it will just be one dinner plus a few days of sandwiches as I can't find space to freeze.

It's only a bargain if you need it OP - if your freezer is full to bursting you probably don't need to buy any meat for a while! And if you're used to finding bargains then you'll probably be able to find them again when your freezer has been emptied a little bit.