It’s the end of term and funds are running low. Gone are the days of spontaneous eating out and in are the days of making whatever is edible from the darkest corners of the cupboard.
Never fear. Over the last few days I have made meals which feed two for £3 or less and even if I do say so myself are rather nice. Also, they are at least 2 of your 5 a day! Here’s my recipe for a budget spaghetti bolognese.
Ingredients
What you will need (for two servings):
200g minced beef – 99p
A load of fresh tomatoes from the market – 50p
Onion – 10p
Garlic – 3p
Tomato puree – 13p
Spaghetti – 30p
Milk, stock, seasoning and herbs Total price: £2.05 (not including the milk etc.)
Before we worked out how little this had cost to make we had already scoffed it down so apologies for the lack of photo.
We were lucky to be able to get our tomatoes from Leicester market as we used loads of them – a whole bowl full. I find using fresh rather than tinned means the whole meal is fresher.
I’m sure everyone makes bolognese differently, normally I use half pork to half beef mince but that would have added to the price! This is how I make bolognese:
Method
Chop the onion and garlic and start to cook them with the minced beef. While the meat browns, chop the tomatoes in half and make up 250ml of vegetable or chicken stock. When the meat is brown stir in a good tablespoon of tomato puree and then add all the tomatoes.
After giving it a quick stir, add the stock and 250ml of milk. It looks a bid odd right now but stick with it! Season the bolognese and throw in some basil and a bay leaf or two. If you have a lemon kicking about I add a squidge at this point. While this reduces, start to boil the water for the spaghetti. I always snap mine in half before it goes into the water to make it easier to cook, serve and eat.
Wait until the bolognese is as reduced as you want it, et voila! Cheap, cheerful, healthier than a microwave meal and to be honest, a little more spaghetti and it would have fed four, we’re just greedy.
All That I’m Eating
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It’s great that you’re making an effort to cook and avoid those sodium loaded microwave meals which are so tasteless! 🙂
Homemade is always the cheapest way to go, though not always the fastest. Your meal sounds like it was very tasty!
Yes I agree, microwave meals are a waste or money considering the awful state of the “food” you are eating.
No it didn’t take a little stabbing of cellophane and a few minutes in a microwave and the ringing of a bell but I think the more effort you put in, the more rewarding the results.