“How To Make The Best Spaghetti Bolognese And How To Eat It”

600g minced beef, two carrots (diced or grated), two onions (chopped finely), two cloves of garlic (crushed), two sticks celery (finely diced), 800g tinned plum tomatoes (chopped), 150g Tomato Puree, 2 Bay Leaves, 250ml beef or vegetable stock, large glass dry white wine, dash of Worcester Sauce, Tabasco, salt, pepper, olive oil, heaped tablespoon of Oregano, grated Parmesan cheese or Pecorino Romano cheese.

Heat a large saucepan and add the minced meat. Thoroughly brown the meat then remove it from the pan with a slotted spoon. Now set the meat aside in a colander to drain off excess fat.

Add enough olive oil to cover the base of the pan, turn down the heat and add the onions, after a few minutes they will become translucent. Add the celery and garlic. Season well with salt and pepper then add bay leaves. After a few minutes more return the drained meat to the pan and add the oregano and then the wine. You can use red wine but the flavour's better if you use white wine.

Allow the sauce to heat through then add the tomatoes, tomato puree, Worcester Sauce and Tabasco. Add the stock and the carrots. Stir well and let the sauce cook for about an hour and a half, covered and on a low heat.

Use the best spaghetti you can but remove the pasta a couple of minutes before the stated cooking time.

Drain the spaghetti in a colander quickly then return to the saucepan.

The cooking water that the spaghetti still holds adds flavour and stops it sticking.

Add a drizzle of olive oil to the spaghetti, stir then serve with the sauce. Garnish with the grated cheese.

If there's any left over sauce, it tastes even better the next day, freeze and serve for a late supper.

Original Gourmet Pasta Forks

The most ingenious gourmet utensil to come along in years!

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The best way to chop onions

To chop onions finely and evenly, peel and halve them. Place flat on a chopping board and cut vertically through the flesh not quite up to the root. Slice through horizontally and then chop down, making even diced onion.

The best way to crush garlic

The best way to prepare crushed garlic is to chop it finely, sprinkle some coarse sea salt on it and use the flat of a chefs knife to grind into a paste using a downward off-centre motion. The knife must have a flexible blade to do this easily.

Garlic's flavour prepared this way is nicer than using a garlic crusher.