Spaghetti Bolognese - Neil Perry

    CHEFS' RECIPES

Neil Perry: Spaghetti Bolognese

Serves 4

For frying:   extra-virgin olive oil

1   onion, finely chopped

4   garlic cloves, sliced

1   small carrot, diced

1   stick celery, diced

100 gm   smoky bacon, diced

Pinch   of sea salt

400 gm   minced beef

400 gm   minced pork

500 ml   full-bodied red wine

600 gm   tinned whole Italian tomatoes, roughly chopped

2 sprigs   fresh thyme, roughly chopped

400 gm   spaghetti

To serve:   freshly grated parmesan

1 Heat a little olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, bacon and a little sea salt and cook for 15 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally - the vegetables should caramelise but not burn. Add the minced beef and pork and a little extra salt and cook for 5 minutes, stirring, to colour the mince well. Add the red wine and bring to the boil, then simmer until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the thyme, taste, and check seasoning.

2 While the sauce is cooking, cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water. When al dente, drain. Divide the pasta among 4 bowls, add the sauce and serve with some grated parmesan and freshly ground pepper.

Note This is a direct submission from our chef respondent and not a recipe we've put through the triple-testing of everything else we publish in the magazine and is therefore intended as a guide only. Please refer to the recipe given by our food director, Emma Knowles, for a tested and more detailed walk-through.

RECIPE NEIL PERRY