It's called Spaghetti Bolognese where I'm from.

A time-honoured classic. Spaghetti with ground beef in a tomato based sauce. It doesn't matter what you call it, (ragu)? or where it actually originates, it is simply a very tasty and satisfying dish. There are as many recipes and variations for this as stars in the sky. I've seen calls for milk and cinnamon, chicken livers, ground veal, pork and beef and many differing ideas on whether it should be more tomatoey or meaty. I prefer the meatier variety, which my mum taught me to cook. Each chef or cook can quite easily claim their own recipe for this and so, this is mine.

Recipe

1 lb ground beef (I used extra lean ground prime rib)

2 tsp steak seasoning

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

1 large onion, chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 sticks of celery, sliced thinly

1 large bay leaf

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp butter

1 tin chopped or whole plum tomatoes

2 sachets or 2 cubes beef stock

1/2 tsp marmite

salt and pepper

6 mushrooms, quartered

handful dried porcini mushrooms, soaked in 1/4 cup boiling water

1 tbsp chopped fresh oregano

Method

• Heat the oil and butter in a heavy pan over medium heat until butter is frothy.

• Add the onion, garlic, celery and bay leaves and saute over gentle heat until soft and translucent (15 - 20 minutes)

• Meanwhile, heat a little oil over high heat in a frying pan and press the beef into the pan.



The sauce ready to simmer for 1 hour



The celery, garlic, bay leaf and onion

• Sprinkle the steak seasoning and Worcestershire sauce on top and stir well.

• Fry the meat until brown and crispy, allowing the moisture to evaporate and the meat to stick to the pan a little to get some caramelized bits. Remove from the heat and add to the onion mixture.

• Add the tomatoes, stock, marmite, mushrooms, porcini mushrooms with soaking liquid and season to taste.

• Bring everything to the boil then reduce heat to low, cover and cook for about 1 hour.

• Remove the lid and boil rapidly for about 10 minutes to thicken the sauce.

• Add the oregano, stir well and serve. I like to serve this on top of spaghetti with a little pat of butter on top, lots of freshly grated Parmesan and freshly ground black pepper.

• (I would usually add a little red wine, maybe 1/4 cup, but I didn't have any today).