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The Bolognese style of single-handed swordplay was born in the rough and rugged Italian town of Bologna. It is an effective way to turn an opponent into minced meat. The Bolognese style of pasta sauce is a tasty way of turning minced meat (preferably not an opponent, unless you have angered a pig or a cow) into a thick flavourful ragout. Either is a great way to settle the argument about what’s for dinner.

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 onion, finely diced
• 1 carrot, finely diced
• 2 ribs of celery, finely diced
• 1 glass red wine
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 small can (156 ml) tomato paste
• 1-14 oz can tomato purée
• 1 cup of unsalted beef or chicken stock
• 1 tsp dried, ground fennel seed
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 pound ground beef, pork, chicken, veal, turkey or moose
• 2 large spicy Italian sausages, uncooked, removed from the casing
• salt, at the end of cooking to taste
• 500 g of dried spaghetti or rigatoni
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 bunch of chopped fresh parsley
• fresh cracked pepper
• really good olive oil

1) Get a large pot on the stove over medium-high heat.

2) When the pot is hot, pour in the oil and wait for 10 seconds until it heats up. Now add the onions and carrots. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until the carrots and onions get really nice and caramelized. (If some spots in the pot start to get really dark and a bit burnt, pour some cold water on them and carry on cooking.)

3) Add the finely minced celery and crank the heat up to full tilt. Pour in the wine and boil it until the boozey smell evaporates, about 2 minutes. Add the stock, garlic, fennel, cloves, tomato paste and stir it all up until smooth.

4) Reduce the heat to simmer and add all the meat in small chunks. Stir the meat all about, doing your best to mash it up into the tiniest specks you can manage. It should be a consistently chunky mess.

5) Pop a lid on and simmer for an hour, stirring every 10 minutes. Remove the lid and determine if the sauce is thick enough. (If it is too thin, turn up the heat to medium and cook until the liquid reduces. If it’s too thick, add some of the pasta water.)

6) To make the pasta, bring a big pot of salty water to a boil. Add the pasta and check the package for cooking time, probably 8 minutes. Drain the pasta and immediately toss in the Bolognese sauce, to coat.

7) When the ragout reaches the desired thickness, taste it and add salt until it tastes perfect. (If you add salt too early and the sauce reduces, the sauce can become too salty.)

8) Serve up four piping-hot bowls and make sure you top everyone’s pasta with the meaty bits that settle to the bottom of the pot.

9) Top with loads of pepper, freshly chopped parsley and a drizzle of good olive oil.

Originally published in Swerve magazine on Jan.28.11.