Basic Spaghetti Bolognese... Spag Bol

Ingredients:

2 medium onions - white.

4 cloves of garlic.

1 teaspoon of crushed chilli flakes (optional)

Salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1kg 12% beef mince (20% will work, but it will be a bit more greasy, 5% will be rubbish)

1.5-2kg passata (spending a bit more here will make the most difference, so buy the good stuff if you can afford it)

20 fresh basil leaves (dried will work, but you'll need about twice as much)

500g fresh spaghetti pasta (or linguine, or tagliatelle, or pappardelle they'll all work)

Olive oil

Parmesan (real parmesan in a block, not the sawdust in a pot).

Serves: 4

Note: The further ahead of time you do the sauce, the better. An hour is good enough to soften the meat and make sure the flavours combine well. 2 hours is better.

Method:

1. Put a good dollop of oil into a thick bottom pan and put onto a medium-high heat.

2. Peel and chop or slice the onions and put into the pan to fry.

3. Peel and finely chop the garlic.

4. Once the onions are soft, add the garlic to the pan and cook through, this will take about 2 minutes only.

5. If you are adding chilli, throw it in at the same time as the garlic. This amount of chilli will give you about a 3 out of 10 level of spice, so adjust to your taste.

6. Put the temperature on high and add the beef mince. Break it up so you don't end up with too many large chunks. You're looking for even sized bits.

7. Add the black pepper now.

8. Cook the beef until it is all browned through.

9. Add the passata and stir through.

10. Tear up the basil leaves and throw them in. Stir.

11. Put the lid on the pan, turn it down to a low heat so that it simmers. Stir every 5-10 minutes. Make sure it doesn't catch on the bottom. If it is within 5 minutes, turn the heat down a bit.

12. Put on a saucepan of water for the pasta.

13. Add salt to the pasta pan.

14. Bring to the boil on a high heat.

15. Put the fresh pasta into boiling water and let it cook for 4 minutes. Watch it, they have a habit of boiling over.

16. Strain the pasta and put it back into the pan.

17. Scoop 5 or 6 tablespoons of the sauce into the pasta and stir it through. This flavours the pasta.

18. Serve in a bowl with some sauce on top.

19. Grate some fresh parmesan and sprinkle over the top.