Serves 4

The basic rule for a good recipe for Spaghetti Bolognese is to overload on ingredients - thus overloading on flavour. Use good quality mince and loads of red wine!

Ingredients

• 450g of good quality minced beef (ideally from the butcher)
• 2 large onions, chopped (red ones ideally)
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped/crushed
• 2 tins of tomatoes
• 1/2 tube of tomato puree
• 1 stock cube of beef
• 2-3 glasses of red wine
• 2 or 3 rashes of bacon cut into thin slices
• Salt & Pepper to taste
• 1 table spoon of chopped fresh thyme (or 1 tsp of dried)
• 1 table spoon of chopped fresh basil (or 1 tsp of dried)

Instructions

1. Fry the onions and garlic in olive oil in a saucepan until lightly browned

2. Add the mince and bacon and fry for a few minutes until brown.

3. Add the tins of tomatoes, tomato puree, red wine, beef stock, salt & pepper and basil and leave to boil on a medium heat for 20 minutes

4. Add the tins of tomatoes, tomato puree, red wine, beef stock, salt & pepper and herbs and leave to simmer on a low heat for at least 25 minutes. You will probably need to do it for longer depending on how much liquid there is but leave to simmer until the liquid has boiled off and you are happy with the consistency. You can then leave this to rest until you are ready to serve the pasta, or alternatively leave overnight in the fridge and the flavours will infuse even more. It also suitable to freeze (in fact it doesn't really lose any flavour).