Summery Spaghetti Bolognaise

Olive oil

1 large onion

1 stalk celery

1 carrot (preferably pulled fresh from your vegie patch)

1 bunch basil

Fresh bay leaves

2 cloves garlic

2 – 3 anchovy fillets

500g pork mince (pasture raised of course)

¼ bottle old, undrunk red wine

2 cans of tomatoes or your latest crop from the garden whizzed up in a food processor

A big squirt of pizza sauce (or tomato paste if you have it)

1 ½ diced capsicum (any colour)

Mushrooms might be nice

A splash of balsamic vinegar

1 beef stock cube

Salt & pepper

Grated Cheddar (stay with me)

Parmesan

Heat the oil over a medium heat in a very large frypan.  Very finely dice the onion, celery, carrot and basil stalks.  Slice the garlic.  Put the diced vegies, herb stalks, bay leaves and anchovies in the saucepan and cook gently, without colouring for about 15 minutes until the anchovies have disappeared and the vegies are very soft.  Once they are soft, push to one side, turn up the heat and brown the pork and break up any lumps.  Once the pork is cooked, mix through the vegies and pour over the wine.

Simmer the wine down to next to nothing and add the stock cube.  Pour over your whizzed tomatoes and squirt in your pizza base (or tomato paste).  Give it a nice mixy-mixy then add the capsicum, torn basil leaves and slosh in some balsamic vinegar.  Add a large pinch of salt and then taste for seasoning.  Grind in your pepper and then let it simmer gently until it becomes rich and unctuous.

When you’re about 15 minutes off awesomeness cook up some spaghetti in a large saucepan of salted water (yes, you do need lots of salt, or your pasta will be BLAND).

A trick I learned from Himself (I know, right‽) is to sprinkle some freshly grated cheddar in the bottom of your bowl, add your hot pasta, then the sauce on top.  Grate some parmesan and more pepper over the top and enjoy!  Finding the gooey cheddar down the bottom is always a highlight when eating the dish.