So I know I like to say things are ‘the best,’ a lot, but sometimes they just are and you have to trust me. Almost any pasta dish is a winner in my book, but this, this is the best bolognese I have ever had! Usually bolognese is just a canned tomato fest and some rubbery bits of mince, but this is something completely different. This bolognese is slow cooked for hours, the meat is tender and with only a tablespoon or so of tomato paste, the pork, veal and pancetta really shine. Yum.

Next time you go to make spag bol, I want you to try this meat sauce and I want you to love it.

Serves 4

Olive oil
1/2 onion
1/2 carrot
1 celery stalk
5 pancetta slices
1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
500g minced pork and veal
2 tbs tomato paste
1/4 cup white wine
1/2 litre chicken stock
1 sprig of rosemary
Salt and pepper
100ml milk
400g pasta, I like a thicker more dense sort of pasta but its up to you
50g butter
50g parmesan cheese

First thing you need to do is make the soffritto. Roughly chop onion, carrot and celery and place in food processor. Pulse for a few seconds until a very fine chop. Heat about 2 tbs of olive oil in a saucepan and cook the vegetables for about 30 minutes over a low heat. You do not want the vegetables to brown so stir occasionally. Remove the soffritto and set aside.

In a large saucepan cook the pancetta and garlic in 2 tbs of olive oil over a medium low heat until the fat renders from the pancetta. Again you want this cooked but not coloured. Add the soffritto and stir until warmed through. Add mince, and cook until liquid evaporates. Break up the mince as much as you can so you don’t have long mince worms. Add the tomato pasta and stir through. Deglaze the pot with the wine, cook off the alcohol for 1 to 2 minutes and then add the chicken stock, it should cover the meat. Add rosemary and season to taste. Cook over a low heat for 1 hour.  Add milk and cook until sauce thickens for a further 1 to 2 hours.

Now at this stage you can set aside to cool and refrigerate overnight if you like. Or you can use it the same night.

Once your pasta has been cooked according to the directions in salted boiling water, you can get onto finishing this delicious bolognese. To a large saucepan add the bolognese and the butter, heat through. Add cooked pasta, toss to coat. Sprinkle with about half the parmesan cheese finely grated and toss through. Serve with a little more parmesan, grated or shaved.