Bolognese

Whenever I serve this up I always get asked for the recipe. I think the inclusion of pork mince is what elevates it.  I serve it with either tagliatelle or pennoni rigati, never spaghetti.

large knob of butter

splash of olive oil

onion, finely chopped

1-2 carrots, finely chopped

1-2 celery sticks, finely chopped

100g pancetta

500g minced beef

500g minced pork

2 x 400g chopped tomatoes or fresh a bunch of fresh, chopped

1 litre beef stock*

2 sprigs of oregano

pinch of nutmeg, allspice or mace

crushed or ground peppercorns

• Heat the butter in a large pot.
• Add the olive oil.
• Fry onion, carrot and celery until softened.
• Add the pancetta, fry until crisp.
• Add the beef, fry until brown.
• Add the pork, fry until brown.
• Add the tomatoes, beef stock, oregano, pepper and spice of choice.
• Give it a good stir.
• Leave to simmer on the lowest heat setting on your stove for around 3 hours - stir occasionally.*
• Add cooked pasta to the bolognese sauce.

Serve with lashings of cheese! (perciono is a staple here). An absolutely delicious dish and tastes even better the following day. 

*reduce beef stock to 500ml and at this stage pop into a slow cooker for 3 hours on the high setting if you prefer.