Bolognese

Play with almost any aspect of this, ration of beef to pork, amount of tomatoes, spice to taste, wine is optional... About only thing I strongly recomment is the Sacla brand cherry tomatoe sauce. Personally I like the Arrabbiatta, but the basil is also good if you don't want spice.

Unbalanced

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Brown meat in baches and set aside

Step 2

cook off onions for a minute or so

Step 3

Add garlic and stir 30 seconds

Step 4

Add celery, carrots and any other vegies you might want to bulk it up with - cook 5-10 min. don't burn but try to get a bit of colour. Take care not to push the garlic too far or it will get bitter

Step 5

Add back meat, in a few minutes, add wine or water to deglase the pot, scrape off the yummy bits from the bottom to stop it sticking and make sure the flavour mixes throught

Step 6

Add remaing wine, stock, tomatoes, tomatoe sauce, oregano. Stir well

Step 7

Add salt and pepper to taste. Salt helps, but be aware it will intensify as this cooks out, so don't go over the top till it has reduced and you can taste propely

Step 8

Bring to a simmer, reduce heat and let it cook, uncovered for as long as possible. 30 min is about the fastest possible, ideally let it go for 2-3 hours. If you need to, top up with more stock, wine or water if the sauce starts to thicken too much.

Step 9

Stir occasionally at the start, as it thickens, stir more frequently. It will stick and burn on the bottom if not attended, so be reasonably diligent

Step 10

When reduced to a nice consistency, turn off the burners. Serve immediately with your pasta of coice, or if keeping for later, put a lid on the pot and let it cool for 30 min or so before moving to the fridge to cool quickly. I usually use a small chopping board or tea towel to reduce the heat from the pot to the fridge shelf. Once cool it is much easier to put in freezer bags or containers. It freezes beautifully, great to do a big pot and get lots of future meals