Spaghetti Bolognese

I love nothing more than a deep red, rich tasting spaghetti bolognese.  This one has morphed over the years as our family has changed but I have been cooking it like this for years now and it is by far my girls' favourite dish, Georgia particularly.  It's always one to leave with the babysitter as I know there will be no fuss at the dinner table!  

I always make this quantity so I can freeze small portions for the girls or for another time or to make it into a quick, no fuss lasagne.  I also use this meal on days when I will out in the afternoons for school activities and want something ready when we walk in the door, so use your slow cooker.  I brown the meat and onions first in a pan and pull it all together on the stove top and then put it in the slow cooker and let it cook over the day on low.  The clean up is then done and out of the way usually by 9am and all I need to do is cook the pasta when we get home and grate some parmesan.  As we know, these types of dishes just get better the longer you cook them so get cracking on this early and you'll have it in the slow cooker within 20minutes and can forget about it all day long. 

Serve 6-8

Ingredients:

1 large brown onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, crushed

olive oil

1 cup carrot, blitzed or pureed 

3 ribs of celery, blitzed/finely diced

1 1/2 kg / 3 lbs of mixed mince/ground meat - beef, pork, veal.  1:1:1 is perfect

3 x 410g/14.5oz tins tomatoes, pureed

170g/6oz tin tomato paste

1 - 1 1/2 tins (410g/14.5oz) water

2 bay leaves

1 massive handful (total) of basil, parsley, thyme, oregano, rosemary - freshly chopped

(you can use a dried Italian herb blend if you prefer but try to boost with fresh herbs where you can)

1 cup good quality red wine (something you would want to drink)

250g / 1/2 lb bacon or ham, finely diced or 'blitzed' in a mini-processor

sea salt and cracked pepper to season

Method:

• Dice the onions. I always do these by hand as they never get diced evenly in a processor and I end up with large pieces (detectable by the younger generation)
• In a mini processor, place your celery and carrot and blitz to a fine grate.* set aside.  Then blitz the ham or bacon.
• Chop your herbs or put those in the processor too if you like with the bacon.
• Heat a non stick pan with a good glug of olive oil and when hot, add the onions.  Cook until clear approx 3-5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook until fragrant and then brown the meat.  You may need to do the meat in two batches depending on the size of your pan. 
• Cook the bacon or ham. Add all the meat back into the pan
• Add the celery and carrot and cook until tender.  
• At this point, either transfer all your cooked ingredients to the slow cooker and continue to add the tomatoes etc to the slow cooker or continue to cook over the stove.
• With all your meats combined with the onions, garlic, bacon, celery, carrot, now add the herbs and tin tomatoes.  I use a hand processor to puree the tomatoes a little, it helps to thicken the sauce and avoids the girls pulling pieces of larger tomato out of the finished dish.
• Add the red wine, water, tomato paste and bay leaves. Stir occasionally.
• Cook over a low heat for approx 1 hour until the sauce reduces.  Add more water as necessary to enrich the flavor and allow to reduce again.
• Remove the bay leaves, season and serve with spaghetti and freshly grated parmesan cheese
• If you are using a slow cooker, I keep it on low all day and then remove the lid about 30 minutes before I want it, if possible, to help thicken the sauce.  
• For the adults I add a few red pepper flakes when serving to give it a kick but that's a personal preference and totally optional.

* I cook carrots regularly and puree them for all sorts of meals and so I have them in my freezer at all times.  If you are using pureed carrots use approx 4 or 5 large ice cube portions, they help to thicken the sauce and no one knows they are there!