(ZA & AW) Amazing, hickory-smoked Spag Bol

Today we are cooking a classic dish and, rather surprisingly, one we have not done on the egg before...Spaghetti Bolognese! I think every family has their own recipe for this meat sauce to go with pasta and this is ours with the extra dimension of hickory wood-smoke and BGE magic.

This recipe serves 3 hungry people. 

First, set up the egg to cook indirect at 300degF and put hickory chunks in water to soak. 

When the egg is at temperature, soften a chopped onion and a grated carrot in some olive oil. Take two, good-quality pork sausages and remove the meat from the skins, break it up and add to the pan to seal. Next, add 500g minced steak and sauté until the meat is browned. 

Add a splash of red wine and de-glaze the pan before stirring in a tin of chopped plum tomatoes, 1 tbsp tomato puree, 1/2 pint beef stock, 2tsp dried oregano, 2tsp dried basil, 1tsp dried thyme, 1tsp dried parsley, a good grind of black pepper and 1/4 tsp celery salt (you can add more of this to taste as it is very strong!) Stir well and add 1tbsp tomato ketchup and a splash of Worcestershire sauce. 

Add a few soaked hickory chunks to the egg and leave the casserole uncovered to absorb all the wonderful, smokey flavour. Check and stir after 30 mins and again after a further 30 minutes then put a lid on the casserole to simmer for a further 30 minutes. 

Serve with spaghetti that has been tossed in extra virgin olive oil and top with fresh parmesan cheese. Goes down a treat with a glass of red and some crusty garlic bread!

(ZA & AW) Feeling chilly? Spicy peri-peri boerwors pizza

Ir's chilly evening in Stotfold UK but November temperatures never stop us from cooking outside and making some epic grub!

We ramped the egg up to over 500degF for this cook. The rib rack means the ceramic stone placed on top, indirect on the grill, is at the perfect height in the dome to cook epic pizza. We shaped our pizzas on the baking sheets that are cut to the size of the pizza stone, spread tomato sauce and grated mozzarella evenly over the dough and then put on our toppings.

Peri-peri boerwors is a delicious, speciality beef sausage from our local butcher (who have links with South Africa) and it is perfect as a spicy beef topping. I simply took the boerwors out of it's skin, broke up the mince and fried until it was caramelised and crispy. This was sprinkled over the prepared base, along with roasted red onion pieces and a roasted, chopped green chilli and sliced, fresh cherry tomatoes.

 A light sprinkling of  little more mozzarella, and pizzas were ready to go in. We were VERY careful to slowly "burp" the egg as the temperature of the dome was a blistering 550degF. Flames were licking through the open daisy wheel on top and through the vent at the bottom! The pizza went in for 12 minutes and came out golden and bubbling with a crisp base and caramelised topping. We enjoyed them with citrus olives and a fresh mozzarella, tomato and basil salad drizzled with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. A touch of the Mediterranean in sleepy Bedfordshire!

(ZA) Hot stuff! Tasty chargrilled tuna steaks

Tonight was the night we decided to chargrill some fresh tuna for the first time. The tuna steaks I had, until recently, bought from our local Tesco were always too thin to be suitable for "egging" and always had a slightly unpleasant, dry after-taste. I have switched to Waitrose and the results are astounding! 

The tuna I have bought from them is thick enough to chargrill and both smells and feels really fresh so we though we'd chance throwing it on the minimax with the cast iron grill for just 2 minutes each side at 400degF and it was absolutely delicious. We served it with *hot pepper sauce and buttered new potatoes. 

*1 chopped red onion, 1 chopped red or green pepper, 1 chopped red chilli, 1 stick of celery chopped saute for 5 minutes until softened then add a tin of tomatoes. Simmer for 15 minutes then add juice of 1/2 a lemon, 2tsp worcestershire sauce and 1/2 tsp tabasco sauce and serve. Goes well with fish and also in an omelette with cheese!