The classic pastas to serve this with are spaghetti, tagliatelle and penne, but this sauce can also be used for many other things, like filling cannelloni or layering up a lasagne. With so many options, it’s well worth bagging up any leftover sauce and freezing it for another day.

serves 6

Ingredients

• • 2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, the best quality you can afford
• • 2 medium onions
• • 2 cloves of garlic
• • 2 carrots
• • 2 sticks of celery
• • olive oil
• • 2 heaped teaspoons dried oregano
• • 500g good-quality minced beef, pork, or (even better!) a mixture of the two
• • 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
• • sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• • a small bunch of fresh basil
• • 100g Parmesan cheese
• • 400-500g dried spaghetti or penne

To make your sauce

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• Finely slice the bacon
• Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, carrots and celery – don’t worry about technique,
just chop away until fine
• Place a large pan on a medium to high heat

To make your sauce

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• Add 2 lugs of olive oil, your sliced bacon and the oregano and cook and stir until the bacon is lightly golden
• Add the veg to the pan and stir every 30 seconds for around 7 minutes or until softened and lightly coloured
• Stir in the minced meat breaking it up with your spoon and brown
• Add the tinned tomatoes

To make your sauce

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• Fill one of the empty tins with water and add to the pan
• Stir in a good pinch of salt and pepper
• Pick the basil leaves and place in the fridge for later

To make your sauce

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• Finely chop the basil stalks and stir into the pan
• Bring to the boil
• Turn the heat down and simmer with a lid on and slightly askew for 1 hour, stirring every now and again
• Take the lid off and cook for another 30 minutes, stirring occasionally
• Keep an eye on the sauce as it cooks, and if you think it’s starting to dry out, add a splash of water

To make your sauce

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• Remove the Bolognese sauce from the heat
• Finely grate the Parmesan and stir half into the sauce
• Tear and stir in any larger basil leaves, keeping the smaller ones for sprinkling over before serving
• Mix up, have a taste, and season with a little more salt and pepper if needed – congratulations! You now have a beautiful Bolognese sauce
• At this stage you can allow it to cool, bag it up and freeze it, or keep it warm while you cook your pasta

To cook your pasta and serve

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• Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil
• Add your pasta and stir, following the packet cooking times – don’t let it cook any longer or it will become too soft – you want it to have a bit of bite
• Saving a little of the cooking water, drain the pasta in a colander

To cook your pasta and serve

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• Put the drained pasta back into the pan
• Add half the Bolognese sauce to the cooked pasta and mix well, adding a little of the reserved cooking water to loosen
• Divide between your plates and spoon the remaining sauce over the top
• Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle over the rest of the Parmesan and scatter with the small basil leaves – bellissima!