Spaghetti Bolognese

Good

% Daily Values based on a 2,000 calorie diet

Step 1

Put the oil, buiter and chopped onion in the pot turn the heat to medium and sauté the onion until it becomes translucent. Add the chopped celery and carrot. Cook for about 2 minutes, stirring the vegetables to coat them well.

Step 2

Add the ground beef, a large pinch of salt and a few grindings of pepper. Crumble the beef with a fork, stir well and cook until it has lost its raw red colour.

Step 3

3 Add the milk and let it simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has

Step 4

bubbled away completely. Add a tiny grating - about 7a teaspoon - of

Step 5

nutmeg and stir.

Step 6

4.

Step 7

Add the wine, let it simmer until it has evaporated, then add the

Step 8

tomatoes and stir thoroughly to coat all the ingredients well. When the

Step 9

tomatoes begin to bubble, turn the heat down so that the sauce cooks at

Step 10

the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through

Step 11

to the surface. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours or more, stirring from time

Step 12

to time. While the sauce is cooking, you are likely to find that it begins to

Step 13

dry out and the fat separates from the meat. To keep it from sticking,

Step 14

continue the cooking, adding 125 ml/4 fl oz water whenever necessary. At

Step 15

the end, however, no water at all must be left and the fat must separate

Step 16

from the sauce. Taste and correct for salt.

Step 17

5

Step 18

Toss with cooked, drained pasta and serve with freshly grated

Step 19

Parmesan on the side.

Step 20

AHEAD OF TIME NOTE If you cannot watch the sauce for a 3-4 hour

Step 21

stretch, you can turn off the heat whenever you need to leave, and resume

Step 22

cooking later on, as long as you complete the sauce within the same day.

Step 23

Once done, you can refrigerate the sauce in a tightly sealed container for 3

Step 24

days, of you can freeze it. Before tossing with pasta, reheat it, letting it

Step 25

simmer for 15 minutes and stirring it once or twice.