Best Bolognese

1 brown onion, diced
3 celery stalks, washed and diced (fine dice is not necessary because the long cooking time will cause the vegetables to collapse, in fact coarse dice work better from a flavour perspective)
3 carrots, peeled and diced (fine dice is not necessary because the long cooking time will cause the vegetables to collapse, in fact coarse dice work better from a flavour perspective)
500g pork mince
300g beef mince
200g veal mince
1 litre passata (mutti or harris farm are my favourites)
400g can peeled tomatoes (Mutti san marzano are my favourite)
150g tomato paste
extra virgin oil
1 cup red wine
1 cup full cream milk
salt and pepper
boiled water, as required
papardelle is the best pasta to serve with bolognese sauce

To achieve the real bolognese taste, this sauce will need to simmer for 4-5 hours.

Add a generous quantity or olive oil to a very large pot and heat over medium heat. Once the pot is warm, add the onion. When the onion begins to look glossy and golden, add carrots and celery and a good pinch of salt and stir to combine. Leave to cook for 4-5 minutes.

Add half of the red wine and simmer until the wine has evaporated.

Add the mince and break it down using a wooden spoon, season only with salt and pepper. Regularly break up chunks of mince as it starts to brown. Once the liquid in the pot has evaporated, add the remaining wine and allow it to evaporate.

Add the passata, canned tomatoes and tomato paste. Break up the tomato pieces with the wooden spoon.

Simmer on very very low heat for 1.5 hours and then add 1 cup of boiling water and continue to simmer on very very low heat.

After 1 hour, add another cup of boiling water and continue to simmer on very very low heat.

After 1 hour, add another cup of boiling water and continue to simmer on very very low heat for another 1.5 hours.

Stir every once in a while to prevent the sauce from sticking to the bottom of the pan. If the sauce starts to look dry, add some more boiling water. You can cook the sauce for longer than 5 hours for a more intense flavour.

Using a potato masher, mash the sauce to smooth any vegetable chunks that haven’t collapsed during the cooking process.

Add the milk and stir to combine.

Taste the sauce and adjust the salt and pepper to taste. I usually add around 1 tsp salt at this stage.

Turn the heat off and cover. Leave until you need to use the sauce.

In a large saucepan, fill with water and add 1 tbs of rock salt.

When the water is boiling, add the pasta and cook according to packet instructions.

Near the end of the cooking time for the pasta, reserve 1 cup of pasta water to use when warming up the sauce and pasta.

Strain the pasta once it is cooked.

Add two large spoonfuls of bolognese sauce to a large frying pan to coat the bottom of the frying pan.

Turn the heat to medium high.

Add the pasta and two more spoonfuls of sauce and stir to combine. Mix well to ensure the pasta is coated with sauce.

Add as much of the pasta water as you need to create the desired consistency. Just add small amounts at a time.

Serve in bowls and add another tbs of sauce over each serving.

Freshly grate high quality parmesan cheese at the table.

Don’t overdo the wine. 1 cup is optimum.

If it is a bit dull, add more tomato paste.