Bolognese Ragu

Prep time: 3 hrs

Serves: 8

Ingredients

- 2 kg Minced beef, preferably neck

- 5 tbsp Olive oil

- 2 Carrots, finely chopped

- 1 Celery stalk, finely chopped

- 2 White onions, finely chopped

- 1 Rosemary sprig

- 1 Sage Sprig

- 2 cloves Garlic

- 1 bottle Red wine

- 1 tbsp Tomato paste

- 1 litre Tomato passata

- Salt & pepper (to taste)

Method

- Take the meat out of the fridge and lay it on a tray. Allow it to come to room temperature.

- Heat the oil in a wide, thick bottomed saucepan.

- Add the vegetables, herbs and whole garlic cloves, then sweat over a high heat for 5-8 minutes without allowing it to colour (you will need to keep stirring).

- Season the meat heavily with salt and pepper, then add to the pan of vegetables, making sure that the meat is broken up & covering the base of the pan.

- Leave for about 5-6 minutes, so that the meat seals underneath and heats through completely before you start stirring (otherwise it will ooze protein and liquid and will ‘boil’ rather than sear, however, take care that the vegetables don’t burn – add a little more oil if necessary to stop this happening).

- Once the meat is caramelised, add the wine and let it reduce right down to virtually nothing, then add the tomato paste and cook for a couple of minutes stirring all the time.

- Add the passata with 1 litre of water. Bring to the boil, then turn down to a simmer and cook for about 2 hours, adding a little extra water if necessary from time to time, until you have a thick richly coloured sauce.

- Remove the herb stalks. Then you can serve this with your favourite shaped pasta, gnocchi, or jacket potato. You can also stuff arancini with this or enjoy it on it’s own with lots of pecorino on top to garnish.