Bolognese

Preparation time: 15-25 minutes

Cooking time: 30 to 120 minutes

Serve with: eat on it's own or with spaghetti, some other pasta or rice

Serves: 4 or 5 depending on appetite

Ingredients

• One large onion (approx. 150g peeled)
• 100g Mushrooms of your choice -we use chestnut
• 5-6 Decent size cloves of garlic
• Two (400g) tins of chopped tomatoes
• A couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary (or 2-3g dried)
• 5g Italian mixed herbs
• Fresh basil (or 2-3g dried)
• 500g Mince (I use 5%)
• 15ml Worcestershire sauce
• Beef stock cube or pot
• 15g Tomato paste
• 10g Sugar
• 30-40g Parmesan (or more if you really like it)
• Olive oil as necessary
• Salt and pepper to taste

Method

• Brown the mince (slowly), meanwhile;
  • dice the onion
  • dice the mushrooms
  • peel the garlic cloves
  • prepare the rosemary (if fresh)
• Remove the browned mince from the pot or pan and place in a bowl (add salt and pepper if you'd like)
• Sauté the onions in a little oil until they become ever so slightly translucent
• Add the rosemary and mushrooms, crush and add the garlic and sauté for a few more minutes
• Add the mince back
• Add all the remaining ingredients (starting with the tomatoes), season with salt and pepper to your taste and mix well. The remaining ingredients are;
  • chopped tomatoes
  • mixed herbs
  • basil
  • Worcestershire sauce
  • beef stock cube or pot
  • tomato puree
  • sugar
  • parmesan
• Add more sugar if it tastes bitter
• Simmer on a low heat for at least 30mins (I do 2hrs if we have time)

Notes

You may find things look pale and a little dry once you have all the ingredients together - give it a few minutes and that will change.