Jim’s Spag Bol With a Twist…

Spaghetti Bolognese makes absolutely no sense whatsoever and is an insult to good Italian cooking. The Italian way of cooking is very approachable to people with limited experience, as it relies on simple techniques and simple combinations of flavour.

The biggest problem with spaghetti Bolognese is that spaghetti and bolognese just don’t work together. The pasta is too thin to hold any of the sauce, and people would be much better off with tagliatelle or pappardelle, or at a push penne. Next is the mince most people used to make it, which is both tasteless and expensive. For less money you could use pieces of ox cheek, oxtail or diced beef, which (especially in the case of the first two) have far better flavour and texture. The sauce isn’t supposed to be ready in 20 minutes; it requires long and gentle simmering as well as an aromatic base of onion, carrot and celery, good browning on the meat and a dash of acidity from white wine.

Ingredients: 2 whole ox cheeks, 2 onions, 2 carrots, 2 sticks of celery, garlic, 2 tins of good quality chopped tomatoes, good quality tomato puree, a splash of white wine.

Chop the vegetables into 1cm pieces, sweat the onions and carrots, then add the garlic and celery and cook for a further minute. Dice the ox cheeks into 1 inch chunks, then brown in a separate pan before adding to the vegetables. Add a tablespoon of the tomato puree and cook gently for 4-5 minutes, then add the white wine. Once the alcohol has burnt off add the chopped tomatoes and simmer the sauce on the lowest heat possible for 3+ hours. Shred the meat and serve with tagliatelle which has been boiled in lots of salted water.