by Carrie-Ann Campbell

Created on: February 21, 2007   Last Updated: April 01, 2011

Spaghetti bolognese is possibly the most basic recipe around, really easy and almost no effort involved! I like my bolognese as a sauce rather than chunky, so if you like it chunky simply reduce the amount of time it spends in the blender!

The recipe may look long, but in practice, it takes an hour, half of which is spent sitting down waiting for the meat to simmer.

You need:
olive oil (optional - once the meat starts cooking, the juice will come out)
minced meat, beef preferably - the amount depends on how much you want to make; 200g will do)
three garlic cloves, crushed or garlic puree
two onions, quartered
three carrots, peeled, topped and tailed, also quartered
one tin of peeled plum tomatoes (these make the sauce thick and smooth without any annoying tomato skin)
tomato puree
jar oregano
jar basil (or fresh, depends on your taste)

and:
spaghetti pasta

1. First brown the meat in the pan with a little olive oil (optional). Make sure it is thoroughly cooked. Keep pan simmering on or around level 3 throughout.

2. Add the ingredients with strong flavours first, to flavour the meat, so begin by adding the crushed garlic, stir in with minced meat.

3. Put the quartered onions in the blender, blitz until finely chopped and add to the meat, stir in.

4. Put the carrots and tinned tomatoes into the blender and blitz until quite smooth (obviously the carrots will never be entirely smooth - just until there are no large bits). Add to the meat, onions and garlic.

5. Leave to simmer for fifteen minutes. Meanwhile fill a large pan about two-thirds full of water with a sprinkling of vinegar or lemon juice (stops the spaghetti sticking together in one large mass). Put onto highest heat.

6. Add oregano and basil to the meat sauce. Turn the heat down one notch. Leave for another fifteen minutes.

7. When pan of water is bubbling quickly, add the spaghetti (about a small handful for two people). Wait until cooked.

You can tell the pasta is cooked if you pinch a string of spaghetti and it snaps. If it takes effort and you feel resistance, it is not ready.

When pasta is done, strain in a colander or even a large sieve. Serve onto plates and put a dollop of meat sauce on top. Eat with a fork and spoon.

Ta-da!

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