What is your favourite dish? What food reminds you of your childhood? For me, it’s spaghetti bolognese. Though not any old spag bol but the one my dad would cook up on Friday night’s when I came to stay for the weekend. My parents split up when I was four. Both are remarried and I’m blessed with a larger family than I would have had otherwise. Though it did, of course, mean dividing my time between two homes and I lived with my mum and stepfather during the week and with my dad and later on stepmum every second weekend. We aptly named it ‘Friday Food’ as he would often cook it on Friday evenings after work.

Now being a parent and working mum myself, I can understand why. You need something simple yet delicious and nutritious on those days when you are left with little time between getting in the door and the tiny humans in your household start having mini-meltdowns due to hunger. He’s never revealed his secret to the magical meal yet I suspect he might have had a jar up his sleeve to help him create this scrumptious spaghetti dish. Yes, Dolmio is available in Denmark, too.

It is therefore with great pleasure that I’ve teamed up with Dolmio and Britmums to take on the #ThankGoodness challenge and create some easy mid-week meals using the original Dolmio Bolognese sauce. Perfect for those days where you’ve been working late yet still want to prepare a delicious and nutritious meal for your family.

You might be surprised to learn what in a jar of Dolmio Bolognese Original 500g. Firstly, it’s 100% natural. In each jar, you’ll find at least 10 juicy diced tomatoes, a dollop of tomato puree, half an onion, a tablespoon of sunflower oil, a couple of cloves of garlic, a handful of herbs including basil, a teaspoon of cornflour, a teaspoon of salt, a pinch of pepper, two teaspoons of added beet sugar for taste, a squeeze of lemon juice, a splash of water and nothing more. In fact, a jar provides a family of four with one of their 5-a-day each and that’s before you add any further veg to the meal!

It is, of course, perfect for creating a scrumptious and classic spag bol. I sneak in grated veggies so Caspian and Daddy Long Legs don’t notice the green stuff even though neither are particularly picky eaters. This dish is a winner every time!

Though as you can see Caspian has a lot more grace when eating his spag bol than I did at his age. Though he’s clearly inherited my love of the dish along with my concentration, eating is, after all, an important task. What a capture by my dad back in the mid-1980’s though!

MORE QUICK MID-WEEK MEAL IDEAS

Another mid-week favourite of ours is a chicken and potato tray bake. Cover four large chicken breast in a jar of Dolmio. Add sliced vegetables like courgette, onion and peppers and finally top with chunky pieces of potato. Pop the whole thing in the oven for a couple of hours at 150. It is best if it’s allowed to simmer. Though you can always pre-cook it and just heat it when needed. Take it out and add grated cheese and cook at 175 for an additional 15 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Served with a mixed salad and bread.

 This is an entry to the #ThankGoodness challenge by Dolmio and Britmums.