For Gloria Allorbi, an avid home cook from Ghana and Founder of Gloria's Shito, her favorite childhood meal was a Ghanian twist on a pasta dish adored across the globe. She and her siblings loved to chant "Super-getty Bolognese" whenever it was approaching the dinner table, not knowing the actual pronunciation of the dish, but loving every bite.
This recipe for Spaghetti Bolognese was created to be affordable and accessible for a young growing family, using ingredients available to them at the time. Gloria's favorite part of this dish: the classic "fork, twist & slurp" method of eating!
Serves 4
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
1 medium-size onion
1 small habanero
4 cloves of garlic
6 medium-size tomatoes
1 & 1/8 cup olive oil
6 oz. canned tomato paste
1 tablespoon dry onion flakes
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon dry rosemary
2 x 12 oz. can of corned beef
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
One bunch of spring onions (or) green onions
8 cups of water to boil
16 oz. dried spaghetti
Blend together ½ medium size onion, 1 habanero, 4 cloves of garlic & 6 medium size tomatoes. Blend until pureed and smooth.
In an 8-quart size pot, add 1 cup of olive oil over medium to high heat.
Thinly cut the remaining ½ medium size onion longitudinal and add to the pot. Allow to cook for 2 mins, then add 6 oz. of tomato paste to the pot and allow to cook for another 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium.
Add to pot 1 tbsp of minced garlic, 1 tbsp of dry minced onion flakes, 1 tsp of black pepper, and 1 tbsp of dry rosemary and allow to cook for 2 minutes.
Add blended ingredients (½ onion, habanero, garlic, and tomatoes) to the pot and mix in.
Mix well, then cover with lid to cook for 10 minutes until reduced.
After 10 minutes, remove the lid then empty cans of corned beef into the pot. Mince with a spatula until evenly distributed.
Reduce heat to low medium and allow to cook for 15 minutes.
In a side pot, bring to boil 8 cups of water, 1 tbsp of olive oil, and ¼ tsp of salt.
Add 16 oz. whole spaghetti to pot and allow to cook on medium to high heat for 13 – 15 minutes, or to the pasta box’s instructions.
Chop up bunched spring onions (or) green onions into ¼ inch size and add a handful to the sauce.
Allow sauce to simmer on low for an additional 5 minutes, then stop the heat.
After 15 minutes, drain pasta into a colander and splash liberally with cold water, to stop residual heat from further cooking.
Over pasta, drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil and mix, to prevent pasta from sticking.
Serve sauce over pasta and garnish with remaining chopped spring onions.
Notes: Leftover corned beef sauce can be repurposed into shakshuka for breakfast.
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