Bolognese Toasties

The bolognese toastie has been hotly anticipated. It is not entirely new, having featured at a toastie tasting back in 2012. Despite scoring better than the chorizo toastie, which has been a festival favourite ever since, this toastie never made it onto the menu.

In the new version we have made the vital addition of cheese. We have also succumbed to the trend and added spaghetti. I regard this as cheap filler, because that is exactly what it is, but y’know, science.

The Spaghetti Bolognese Toastie

Bolognese ragù
Grated Parmesan
Spaghetti, cooked al dente

Solo Bolognese Toastie

Bolognese ragù
Mozzarella

Taste.

Spaghetti bolognese made me rethink my attitude towards pasta in toasties. We didn’t use very much, but it was enough to give it structural integrity. It made the whole toastie taste more right. Alas, it needed more cheese. Parmesan is the perfect flavour, but has a dissatisfying melt. Barny didn’t like the pasta, as to him it just felt like Spag Bol thrown in a toastie, so scores are a little uneven: 6/10 for him, 7.5/10 for me.

Solo bolognese toastie was much better on the cheese:sauce ratio. I would like to have tried a few other cheeses, because mozzarella, for all its charms, has little flavour. It also doesn’t melt into things: it melts around them, meaning sauce and cheese were largely eaten separately. Still, the cheese put it ahead overall: 7.5/10

Appeal
65% of us are able to cook this dish from scratch (in 2009, at least) so this one could easily be done at home. In some ways this reduces the appeal. We are often told that there is no sense in paying for something you could make yourself. On the other hand the cheese and ham toastie is our best seller. In the same survey a solid 32% of us admitted to being competent mac & cheese cooks, and that’s currently a street food sex object. Take that, logic. 8/10

Suitability as a signature.

If Mac & Cheese can do it, maybe it’s time to give bolognese toasties a shot at the crown. Maybe. 7/10

Difficulty Rating

65% of us should have no problem with this. Assuming you know what originally went in the Dolmio jar. Rated one third difficult.

Summary
If you are attempting this then use parmesan and mozzarella. It works for us in other toasties. A small amount of spaghetti and I think this toastie would really shine.