Bolognaise Sauce

Everyone has their own version of "Spag Bol" and this one hits the spot for me. The recipe calls for fresh tomato sauce but if you absolutely don't have time to make it in advance (or don't have any kicking around the freezer) use a tin of chopped tomatoes instead.

Ingredients:

2 sticks of celery - finely diced
2 large carrots - peeled and finely diced
1 large onion - peeled and finely diced
2 cloves of garlic - peeled and finely sliced
1 glass of red wine
1lb minced Rump
4 heaped tablespoons fresh tomato sauce
1 sprig of thyme
1 bayleaf
1 pint beef stock (or water and a stock cube)
a good dash of worcester sauce
salt and black pepper
1 tblspn double cream
a knob of butter

Method:

1. Place a little oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and cook the celery, onion and carrot until golden. Increase the heat and add half of the wine. Bubble up and scrape up the yummy bits that have stuck to the base then pour the mix into a saucepan. Wipe the frying pan and place back on the heat.

2. Add a little oil to the frying pan and heat until beginning to smoke. Add the mince and cook until golden. Add the remainder of the wine, give the base another good scrape (there is a lot of scraping but the bits stuck to the base of the pan are ALL flavour) then add to the saucepan.

3. Place the sauce pan over a low-medium heat and add the tomato sauce, thyme, garlic, bayleaf, and stock. Cover and simmer gently for two hours.

4. Using a spoon remove excess oil from the surface of the sauce and discard the thyme sprig and bayleaf. Stir in the cream and butter, season with salt and pepper then serve.