There are thousands of Bolognese recipes out there, but very few are suitable for expeditions. We’ve been playing around with this one for a few years now and are thrilled with the results. It provides a hearty, comforting meal that is fantastic to eat after a long day in the canoe, on the bike, or on your feet.
Ingredients
This recipe uses an ingredient that we have found to be surprisingly versatile while out on the trail, Sunflower Mince. This ingredient provides the bulk of the protein and is remarkably light for packing purposes.
Core ingredients
The core ingredients for this recipe give you a foundation that you can build off and put your own twists on. The ingredients given are for two servings.
160g spaghetti - This type of pasta has to be one of the most dense forms of pasta that you can carry. Also don't worry if it breaks in your pack, it still tastes good.
40g sunflower mince - Provides the bulk of the protein.
1 stock cube - Provides a good deal of seasoning and provides a good base to build the flavour of your bolognese off.
1 onion - We have found that this recipe can work as well with fresh, dehydrated, or freeze dried onion.
1 medium-sized carrot - These can be fresh, dehydrated, or freeze dried, it turns out carrots are quite forgiving.
1 single serving packet of powdered tomato soup - The soup that we have found works best is just a plain tomato flavour. This provides the tomato richness as well as acting as a thickening agent.
5 - 10 sun dried tomatoes - These really help with the rich tomato flavor. The amount is given as a range depending on the size of the sundried tomatoes, 10 if they are little ones or 5 if they are bigger.
Approximately 0.5 litres water - as all the ingredients can be dry a fair amount of water is needed.
2 tablespoons vegetable oil - Any neutral cooking oil can be used.
1 tablespoon of mixed herbs - we have found herbs de provence a versatile herb mix that works with this dish.
½ teaspoon cracked black pepper
Optional Ingredients
Now this is where you can start experimenting. Some ingredients we have found that work well to add or substitute are:
Dehydrated or freeze dried vegetable mix - As with many one pot meals with some strong flavors, adding a handful of dehydrated or freeze dried vegetables to the mix can add a burst of nutrients and fibre to the meal.
Jerky - we have substituted the Sunflower Mince for jerky in this recipe with some success, however we also needed to add a little flour to replace the thickening properties of the Sunflower Mince.
Dried mushrooms - If you happen to like mushrooms then these can easily be added in once the water has been added. Just watch out for dried mushrooms coming back with more of a punch.
Cooking equipment
This is a two pot meal: one for the pasta, one for the sauce.
Camping stove - something that has a controllable heat is preferable. Although possible over a spirit burner it is a bit more of a challenge to not weld food to the bottom. This meal is easy enough to do over an open fire.
2x saucepans with lids - One big enough to cook the amount of pasta that you need and the second of a suitable size for the sauce. For our Primus pot set the large pot is for the carbohydrate and the smaller one is for the sauce.
Mixing spoon - we tend to use a large wooden spoon.
Knife - almost anything that has an edge on will do.
Cutting surface - something that can be cut onto without damaging you or your knife blade.
Method
The hardest part of this meal is making sure it is cooked without welding any part of it to the bottom of either of the pans.
In one pan cook your pasta as per the packet instructions. Strain. Stir through a teaspoon of oil to stop the strands from sticking together. Set to one side. A pan of cooked pasta will only cool a little in the time it takes to cook the sauce.
Finely dice the onion and carrot. If using dehydrated or freeze-dried then rehydrate with a little water and drain off any excess water.
Roughly chop the sundried tomatoes.
In the second pan add the remaining oil and fry off the onions and carrot until soft.
Add the sundried tomatoes.
Crumble in the stock cube.
Add in the Sunflower Mince and mix around.
Add enough water to the pan to cover the mixture. The Sunflower Mince soaks up a surprising amount of water. It is at this point if we have any additional dehydrated or freeze dried vegetables we tend to add them.
Once the Sunflower Mince has softened, slowly sprinkle in the powdered soup while stirring continuously. Dumping it all in at once causes stubborn clumps. You may need a splash of extra water here, but add it with caution as too much liquid will leave you with a watery sauce or force you to spend extra precious fuel boiling it down.
Sprinkle with herbs and black pepper and serve.
Trail tips
It’s surprising how long a pan of pasta can stay warm once cooked. Even in freezing conditions in winter, we’ve managed to make this meal on a single-burner stove by cooking the pasta first and letting it stand in the pan with the lid on whilst we quickly knock the sauce together.
This is one of the meals that we tend to have later on in our trips due to the density and robustness of the ingredients, especially if we are using dried carrots and onions.
