Spaghetti Bolognese

There’s something innately gratifying about whole-some Italian cooking that reminds you of all things good & comforting in the world. Whether it’s the freshness of ingredients, the sheer voluptuousness of cheese or the rustic home-grown comfort & charm, it’s as though a big red-faced Italian Mamma is in the kitchen doling out ladle-fulls of the good stuff for her large brood . One of our all-time favorites is spaghetti Bolognese ‘coz well…you just can’t go wrong with that but also because it’s one of the meals that we were invited to on our tour of Lucca (a city in Florence - Italy) by a simple family growing their own crops on the outskirts of the city. Here is their original recipe, with of course a few tweaks of our own…

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1kg minced beef
• 2 x 400g cans tomato puree or ½ kg tomatoes
• 1 cup (250ml) cream
• ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
• Sea salt and cracked black pepper
• One packet of spaghetti
• 200 gms butter
• 100 gms chedder or any other hard cheese

Method:

Cook the spaghetti as per packet instructions till al dente. Once cooked, take it off the pan & add 1 tsp of butter & allow it to melt & give it a swirl once. For the sauce…Heat a deep frying pan or saucepan over high heat. Add the oil, garlic and onion and cook for 3 minutes or until just soft. Add the mince and cook, stirring, until brown. Add the tomato puree or chopped tomatoes and stock and rapidly simmer for 10–15 minutes or until thickened to your liking. Keep adding cream on low heat. Stir through the parsley, salt and pepper and serve over spaghetti. Grate the cheese over the plate just before serving.

Mommy’s Tip: Serve with fresh garlic bread & a fine Merlot