MTC’s Bolognese

Have you ever told a lie so many times that even you started to believe it? I have. I lied that I didn’t like ground meat (mince). I’m not really sure how this happened but long story short I actually do like ground meat, a lot. I came to terms with my love of ground meat about a year ago, when I realized I was eating it all the time yet still telling people I didn’t like it *this is an extremely annoying thing to do and I would advise against it. Even on this blog I have recipes with ground meat like my sausage, kale & fennel pasta, healthy turkey chili, classic meatballs and pork & fennel sausage rolls.

This is my go-to meat sauce recipe, I use it in my lasagna, Hayden puts it on toast with a fried egg on top, we’ve made Shepard’s pie with it, we almost always have some pre-made in our freezer. You probably get it by now- if you like bolognese, you’ll like this bolognese (even if you “don’t like ground meat”..).

Makes 8 cups

• 2 lbs (about 1kg) ground beef (mince), I like to use anywhere between 15-20% fat
• 2 lbs (about 1kg) ground pork (mince), I like to use anywhere between 15-20% fat
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, peeled and diced
• 1 tbsp fennel seeds
• 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes
• 1 28 oz (800g) can peeled diced tomatoes
• 1 28 oz (200g) can pureed tomatoes (tomato pasasta)
• 3 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Salt to taste

Method

1. In a large pot oven medium-high heat, cook your pork and beef in 3 tbsp of olive oil until cooked through and lightly browned. Use the back of a wooden spoon to break the meat into pea sized pieces. Remove meat from the pan and set aside.
2. Add your carrots, celery, onion and garlic to the pot. Cook until the vegetables have softened.
3. Add in your fennel seeds and chili flakes, cook until fragrant.
4. Finally return your cooked meat to the pot along with both cans of tomato, 1/2 cup of olive oil and Worcestershire sauce.
5. Let cook for at least 1-2 hours on low heat. Season with salt to taste.
6. Serve with al dente pasta or literally anything else.

*I’d also like to add that this is definitely not a classic Italian bolognese, so don’t go serving it to your friends Italian Grandma unless she’s well aware that it is NOT TRADITIONAL, but it is still damn good*