Spaghetti Stroganoff Recipe for a Russian Inspired Mushroom Bolognese

My spaghetti Stroganoff recipe will make you a Russian Stroganoff inspired mushroom Bolognese with spaghetti instead of tagliatelle, and a ragù of mushrooms and ground beef and pork, flavoured with the quintessential Stroganoff ingredients, allspice, paprika, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and sour cream. It’s deeply flavoured yet quick and easy to make.

If you’re a fan of the legendary Russian dish beef Stroganoff and a lover of the Northern Italy classic ragu alla Bolognese, the rich meaty sauce traditionally served with tagliatelle; the Italian-Australian/American spaghetti Bolognese, or even my ‘cheat’s Bolognese’ (some of our best pasta recipes), you should also enjoy my spaghetti Stroganoff recipe, a delicious fusion of the lot.

And if you are a Stroganoff fan, we’ve got a collection of best Stroganoff recipes, which includes recipes for my beef Stroganoff, chicken Stroganoff, meatball Stroganoff, mushroom Stroganoff, and pork Stroganoff, which uses the Chinese velveting technique. We also have recipes for classic Stroganoff sides, including crispy shoestring fries, mashed potatoes, buckwheat kasha, and dill pickles.

If you enjoy Slavic cuisines, we have dozens of family recipes from four generations of women cooks from the Russian-Ukrainian side of my family, my great grandmother, grandmother, mum, and myself, including recipes for borscht, piroshki, cabbage rolls,  chicken kotleti, mashed potato and caramelised onion-stuffed vareniki and minced beef and pork-filled pelmeni.

If you’re looking for more cooking inspiration, we have many hundreds of recipes from around the world in our archives. You can save your favourite recipes by clicking on the heart on the right of any post to create a private account. Now let me tell you all about my spaghetti Stroganoff recipe for a Russian Stroganoff inspired Bolognese.

Spaghetti Stroganoff Recipe for a Russian Inspired Mushroom Bolognese

My quick and easy spaghetti Stroganoff recipe will make you a deeply flavoured Russian Stroganoff inspired Bolognese with a ragù of mushrooms and pork and beef mince that’s infused with quintessential beef Stroganoff ingredients: allspice, wholegrain mustard, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, and sour cream.

If I wasn’t writing a Cambodian cookbook and book of family recipes from the Russian-Ukrainian side of my family, I’d swear I was working on an Italian cookbook. I’ve cooked so much pasta this year, pasta being mum’s favourite food – which is why I’ve had to get creative and have developed so many new pasta recipes. Otherwise, I’d go crazy with boredom. There’s only so many times I can cook penne with bacon and mushrooms.

My family always served beef Stroganoff with the classic accompaniments of crunchy shoestring fries, mashed potatoes and buckwheat kasha and mum’s Stroganoff was always rich with deep flavours. I’d never seen an insipid grey-brown coloured Stroganoff piled atop plain wide noodles or pasta – let alone heard of Stroganoff made with canned mushroom soup until I became a food writer.

Russians and Ukrainians do eat noodles and pasta, of course. The Ukrainian city of Odessa, where my grandmother comes from, had a sizeable community of Italians in the mid 1800s. In fact, a quarter of the city’s population were European expatriates at that time, which was the cosmopolitan port city’s heyday.

Russia is massive, the world’s largest country, stretching from Europe in the west all the way to China in the east. There are some 190 ethnicities, including Asian ethnic groups such as Tatars, Uzbek and Kyrgyz peoples, Buryats from Siberia, and Koreans in the east – so it’s no surprise that Russian cuisine is rich in diversity and features dumplings, noodles and spice.

My spaghetti Stroganoff recipe is clearly Italian inspired, but my pork Stroganoff is Chinese influenced, using the velveting technique. Please do try that one also and let us know what you think in the comments below.

Tips to Making this Spaghetti Stroganoff Recipe for a Russian Inspired Mushroom Bolognese

Just a few tips to making this spaghetti Stroganoff recipe, focused on the cooking process, as I covered the ingredients in some detail in my beef Stroganoff recipe.

Cooking the Spaghetti

Use a big pasta pot. Use one litre of water per 100 grams of spaghetti and lots of salt. Italians say that pasta water should be “as salty as the sea”,  so 3 tbsp salt for four servings. You need the water on a rolling boil before you add the spaghetti.

Once the spaghetti is in the pot, start your timer then stir the pasta for the first couple of minutes to ensure the strands are separated. Return the lid to the pot to get the water back to a boil, then pull the lid off slightly so the pasta water doesn’t boil over.

It’s a good idea to take the spaghetti out of the pot a minute before the instructions on the packet recommend, as the spaghetti will continue cooking in the sauce. When those plates of spaghetti Stroganoff hit the table the result will be perfect pasta.

Making the Stroganoff Ragu

You’ll make my spaghetti Stroganoff sauce in the same way you’d make a ragu alla Bolognese, cooking the onion until soft, browning the ground pork and ground beef, and adding stock and seasoning, in this case classic Stroganoff ingredients: allspice, paprika, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, stock, and cream (or milk) for richness, then the mushrooms, and garnish.

Use a large deep frying pan, as you’re going to do as the Italians do. Instead of piling the spaghetti Stroganoff ragu on top of the pasta, you’re going to use tongs or a ‘spider’ to transfer the pasta from the pot to the pan. Make sure to take a little cooking water with the spaghetti, and stir it into well to combine the pasta with the sauce.

Serving the Spaghetti Stroganoff

After distributing the spaghetti Stroganoff between plates, sprinkle on some fresh dill sprigs. Serve with more fresh dill, mustard, sour cream, and salt and pepper, on the table, so everyone can customise their own ‘spag Strog’.

Serve with dill pickles, a salad and crusty bread. This Russian garden salad with sweet tomatoes, crunchy red radishes, lettuce, onions fresh dill is a great side salad.

Spaghetti Stroganoff Recipe for a Russian Inspired Mushroom Bolognese

Spaghetti Stroganoff Recipe for a Russian Inspired Mushroom Bolognese

AuthorLara Dunston

My spaghetti Stroganoff recipe makes a rich Russian Stroganoff inspired mushroom ragù Bolognese made with ground beef and pork instead of the steak slices of traditional beef Stroganoff, flavoured with the quintessential Stroganoff ingredients, allspice, paprika, wholegrain mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and sour cream. It’s deeply flavoured yet quick and easy to make.

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course main course, lunch, dinner

Cuisine Russian/Australian

Servings made with recipeServings 4

Calories 1035 kcal

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion - finely diced
• 250 g ground pork
• 250 g ground beef
• 1 tbsp allspice
• 1 tsp ground paprika
• 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard - or more to taste
• 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp tomato paste - or 2 tbsp tomato sauce
• 1 cup beef stock
• 500 g spaghetti
• 100 ml thickened cream
• 250 g button mushrooms - cut into 1cm thick slices
• 100 ml sour cream
• ½ tsp salt - or to taste
• ½ tsp cracked black pepper - or to taste
• 2 tbsp fresh dill sprigs

Instructions

 

• Put a large pot of salted water on the stove over high heat to boil.
• Heat the olive oil in a large deep frying pan over medium-high heat until shimmering then add the diced onion and fry for a few minutes until soft.
• Add the ground pork and ground beef, using a wooden spoon to break the minced meat into fine pieces, continue to fry, stirring occasionally, until the mince is dark brown, then reduce the heat to medium.
• Add the allspice, paprika, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste (or tomato sauce), and beef stock, stir well to incorporate, increase the heat to high, and stir occasionally. Cook until the sauce bubbles and reduces then turn the heat to low.
• To the pot of salted boiling water, add the spaghetti and give it a stir; put the lid on and cook, following the packet instructions, until al dente, around 9 minutes.
• To the frying pan, add the thickened cream and mushrooms, stir to combine, increase the heat to medium-high, and cook until the sauce is dense and rich.
• When the spaghetti is two minutes from being ready, stir in the sour cream, add the salt and pepper, taste, and adjust the seasoning to suit your palate. I sometimes add more mustard at this point.
• When the spaghetti is al dente, use tongs to transfer the pasta from the pot to the pan, taking a little cooking water with the pasta, and stir well to combine the pasta with the sauce.
• Divide the spaghetti Stroganoff between plates and sprinkle with fresh dill sprigs. Serve with more fresh dill, mustard, sour cream, salt and pepper, a garden salad, and crusty bread.

Notes

To serve: more fresh dill, mustard, salt and pepper, and sour cream.

Nutrition

Calories: 1035kcalCarbohydrates: 105gProtein: 43gFat: 49gSaturated Fat: 19gPolyunsaturated Fat: 4gMonounsaturated Fat: 20gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 132mgSodium: 711mgPotassium: 1186mgFiber: 6gSugar: 9gVitamin A: 873IUVitamin C: 7mgCalcium: 127mgIron: 5mg

Please do let us know if you make this spaghetti Stroganoff recipe as we’d love to know how it turned out for you. Share your feedback, tweaks and tips or ask questions in the comments below.