Spaghetti Bolognese + the Sandhamn Murder Series #FoodieReads

Years ago, when I was preparing for my annual Jólabókaflóð, the Icelandic tradition of gifting books and chocolate on Christmas Eve, I decided to dive into the genre of Nordic Noir. I discovered the books of Viveca Sten.

Back in 2024, I shared Pannkakor (Swedish Pancakes) for a Duo of Nordic Noir Stories Set in Åre. That series included four novels (at the time). I read them all! I have since read nine books in her Sandhamn Murders line-up.

The Sandhamn Murder series takes place on one of Sweden's idyllic islands in the Stockholm Archipelago. At the center of the stories are police detective Thomas Andreasson and his childhood friend, a local attorney named Nora Linde.

To Nora, Sandhamn meant proximity to the sea, great expanses of silence broken only by the cry of the gulls. You caught your own fish and picked blueberries in the pine forest. On sunny days, you took a picnic down to the beach. In the evening, you fired up the barbecue down by the jetty. It was the simple life that Nora loved, the peace and quiet.

Still Waters, page 211

Food in the Sandhamn Murder Series

And despite the murders and the mysteries, Sten manages to mention quite a bit of food in these pages.

In Still Waters, Nora and her family eat outside in the garden. "Nora set the table. They had decided to eat in the garden in order to enjoy the fine evening. She would be serving a mustard sauce along with the perch fillets, together with home-baked rustic baguettes with an herb butter. She had picked some rhubarb earlier and had made an old-fashioned crumble, using her grandmother’s recipe" (page 70). Rhubarb crumble is a family favorite! I can't believe I've never shared that. Next season.

Book two, Closed Circles, included several summer picnics, but it was the mention of Swedish soured milk with muesli that has me wondering where I can get my hands some of that soured milk. I wonder if that's like yogurt. I will share my muesli recipes soon. It's a constant quick breakfast with Greek yogurt in our house.

Guiltless, book three, mentioned something I want to research more. Though I think my family might object to eating porridge for dinner, but it sounds intriguing to me. "Vendela brought over the steaming pot of rye porridge and placed it on the table. She had already set out bowls of sweetened water flavored with vinegar into which they would dip spoonfuls of porridge. Gottfrid didn’t look up; he merely grabbed his spoon and started shoveling down his supper" (page 139.

Tonight You're Dead, In the Heat of the Moment, In the Shadow of Power, books four, five, and seven respectively, had less food mentioned. But they still ate quite a bit of Swedish seafood from the archipelago.

In book six, In Harm's Way, Thomas' wife, Pernilla, makes "a meal of meatballs, mashed potatoes, and lingonberry jam, which was supposed to represent Christmas fare" (page 38). I have shared An IKEA-Inspired Tray with all of those items. It was a hit.

Spaghetti Bolognese

This dish makes an appearance in two of the books as a comforting dish for family dinners. It is also one of my family's favorite!

"We’ve made you dinner. Spaghetti Bolognese. Dad can stay over and eat with us, can’t he? There’s chocolate pudding, too—how good is that?” Henrik wasn’t far behind. He put his arm around Simon’s shoulders and smiled" (page 278, In Harm's Way).

"When Nora got home, dinner was almost ready. Jonas had cooked Julia’s favorite—spaghetti Bolognese" (page 286, In Bad Company).

'Spaghetti Bolognese' is a pretty common fixture on Italian menus around the world, but ragù alla bolognese - a slowly-cooked meat-based sauce that's typical of the city of Bologna - is usually used to dress flat pasta such as tagliatelle or pappardelle. Still tossing spaghetti noodles in the rich meat sauce is one of our family favorites, so I go with it!

And I love how the techniques of sautéing and braising render this sauce so delicious and rich.

Ingredients

Ragù

• 1 Tablespoon olive oil

• 1 pound beef, cubed (I used chuck...you can use really any cut of meat because it braises so long that it will be tender)

• 1 pounds ground beef

• 1 cup onion, peeled and diced

• 6-8 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1 cup diced carrots

• 1 cup diced celery

• 2 cups broth (I used beef broth only, but you can swap in some wine or water, too)

• 2 bay leaves

• 2 sprigs fresh thyme

• 1 cup thinly sliced basil

• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

• 1/2 cup semi-dried tomatoes (optional)

• freshly ground salt, as needed

• freshly ground pepper, as needed

Serving

• cooked pasta (I used spaghetti for this sauce)

• parmesan for serving

Procedure

Beef

Heat the oil in a large, dutch oven. Add the ground beef into the pot. brown until the meat is cooked through and the fat is rendered. Add in the beef cubes and sear the cubes in the rendered ground beef fat. Cook on each side for 3 to 5 minutes - until a nice brown begins to appear. Add the onions and garlic to the pot. Let them cook until the onion is translucent and beginning to caramelize. Add in the carrots and celery. Cook for another 3 to 5 minutes.

Pour in the broth or combination of liquid that you're using. Stir in the bay leaves, thyme, basil, parsley, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil. Then, reduce the heat to a simmer and cover. Let the meat braise for 3 to 4 hours - longer is fine, if you need to. You can leave the beef in cubes or shred the meat.

Once the beef is tender. Stir in the semi-dried tomatoes. Remove the cover and turn up the heat to reduce the sauce to your desired thickness. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

For Serving

To serve, mix some of the ragu in with your pasta. Portion out your pasta into individual servings. Spoon more sauce over the top. Serve immediately. You can grate parmesan over the top, if you like; we always do!

I am adding this to the October 2026 #FoodieReads link-up.