Spaghetti bolognese
Serves 6
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 1½ hours
Of all the dishes I cook this reminds me the most of my childhood and of my children.
Ingredients
750g beef mince
2 tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
250ml red wine
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 tins of tomatoes chopped or pulped
1 tsp mixed Italian herbs
1 tbsp sugar
1 beef stock pot
1 Parmesan rind (or 1 tbsp grated Parmesan)
500g dried spaghetti
Salt and pepper
Grated Parmesan to serve
* I like to buy steak, chunk it up and mince it myself because you can put the exact amount of fat you want, you can pick whatever meat you like the look of the most and, the thing I like the most is that there is never any risk of getting any gristle
If you are mincing your own meat then cut the meat into chunks and season with salt, pepper and the herbs before you mince it.
Method
Put 1 tbsp oil in a heavy based pan and cook the mince over a medium heat and cook until brown - expect this to take 10-15 minutes. You want to cook it until all of the juice that has come out of the meat has almost disappeared and it is beautifully browned. Remove the meat to a bowl to one side.
Into the pot, add the remaining tbsp of olive oil and the onion and cook for 5-7 minutes until soft and translucent. Add the garlic and continue to cook for another minute or two.
Return the meat to the pot and stir and heat through. The meat will now be browning and caramelising on the bottom, don’t worry about that. Add the red wine and scrape the caramelised bits from the bottom while it bubbles. Cook for a few minutes until the liquid has almost gone.
Add the tomato purée and mix through well and cook for a few minutes to remove the raw tomato taste. Add the tins of tomatoes, herbs, stock pot and sugar. Mix thoroughly, add your Parmesan rind and cook on a medium heat for at least an hour - longer if you have the time - until it has reduced and is thick, rich and unctuous. If you feel the sauce is not fluid enough just take your tomato tin and add half a tin of water and stir through as it cooks.
10 minutes before serving bring a large pan of water to the boil and cook your spaghetti according to the packet instructions. Before draining remove half a cup of water.
Remove the parmesan rind and if the sauce is too thick, add some of the pasta water and stir.
Drain the pasta and put back into the pasta pot. Stir through ladles of the sauce until you are happy you have enough sauce in the pasta. This might mean you have some leftover but it freezes perfectly. With tongs thoroughly mix through. Serve with Parmesan over the top.