My bolognese

I love creating excuses to get in the kitchen to be creative with food and create happiness. I love cooking because you always know what you are going to get and it makes me happy. I know every time I mix eggs and sugar, you get the perfect base for a sponge cake. Food don't lie and judge you, people do.

My excuse today is that I am frustrated about being down with a cold and sore throat therefore I deserve to feed myself the ultimate comfort meal; spaghetti bolognese.

It took the most part of my cooking life to come up with a version that I am proud to call my own.

My top tips for recreating this dish is 1. Use the fresh ingredients - you get what you put in 2. Use a mixture of mince meat- beef on its own can be ordinary and dry 3.Be generous with time and cook with your heart.

Here is the recipe. Serves 4.

Ingredients
300g beef mince
300g pork mince
300g lamb mince
1 celery stick (diced)
1 carrot(diced)
5 garlic cloves (finely diced)
6 ripen tomatoes
4 bay leaves
3 tablespoon chopped parsley
2 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cups dry white wine
400ml beef stock
2 tablespoon olive oil- for saute
1 tablespoon olive oil - to round up sauce
salt and pepper to taste

Method
1. Heat olive oil in hot pan (I used my trusty wok- woks distribute heat more evenly).
2. Saute garlic lightly and add carrots and celery. Stir fry lightly.
3. Add bay leaves and chopped parsley.
4. Add meat mince and add salt and pepper to taste. Stir fry until meat browns slightly.
5. Add white wine to deglaze the wok. Stir and allow the wine to reduce slightly before adding beef stock.
6. Add tomatoes and simmer on low heat consistently stirring until mixture reduce and tomatoes break down.
7. Once mixture is reduced and tomatoes broken down, add tomato paste. Continue to simmer until the mixture splits (similar to when a curry splits, i.e. oil separates).
8. Add a tablespoon of good quality olive oil to the bolognese to round up the sauce before serving with pasta.