Spaghetti with Mushroom & Meat Sauce

My first batch of home-made stock was a success! I don't think I can go back to store-bought ones anymore...sigh...I'm glad I tried out the vegetable stock recipe as it was really good, so flavourful. I was so tempted to season it with a bit of salt and pepper and drink the whole batch! Anyway, I resisted and had a lot of leftover from the Daring Cook's challenge. I've been using it in almost every dish I cooked for the past week and here's my first pasta dish made with HOME-MADE vegetable stock *grins with pride*

Ingredients: serves 3

• 230g Spaghetti
• 500g minced beef
• Portobello mushrooms (from making vegetable stock) - chop into small pieces
• 1 cup mixed dried mushrooms (shiitake, oyster, porcini)
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 large onion - diced
• 3 cloves garlic - pressed
• 2 tsp dried mixed herbs
• 1 box (390g) chopped tomatoes in a concentrated tomato juice
• 1 1/2 cup home-made vegetable stock
• 1 tbs tomato paste
• 1/4 cup evaporated milk
• 2 tsp condensed milk
• A dash of Worcestershire sauce
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• A handful of parsley - coarsely chopped

Directions:

• Soak dried mushrooms in 1 cup of warm water until softened (about 30 mins). Drain, press water out. Keep the soaking water for later use and coarsely chop the mushrooms.
• Heat up a bit of oil in a pan.
• Add minced beef, stir fry until dry and brown. Leave aside for later use.

• In the same pan, add onions, fry until soft and translucent.
• Add garlic, fry until fragrant.
• Mix in softened dried mushrooms and portobello mushrooms.

• Add cooked beef, dried mixed herbs and tomatoes.

• Pour in the water used for soaking mushrooms and vegetable stock.

• Bring to boil, lower heat to simmer for about 30 mins.
• Stir in tomato paste.
• Pour in evaporated milk and condensed milk. Leave to simmer for a further 15 mins.

• While the sauce is simmering, boil pasta in a large pot of water until it's almost done.
• Drain and mix pasta into the sauce and let the pasta finish cooking in the sauce.

• Season with worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper.
• Stir in parsley.

• Enjoy!

I'm sending this to Aqua from Served with Love who is hosting this week's Presto Pasta Night.