Simple food...

This is my “signature” bolognese sauce. In case you don’t know, the “bolognese” sauce is the ragù (meat sauce) made in Bologna. They have ragù everywhere in Italy, but they won’t be calling them “Bolognese” because they are not in Bologna!
This version is probably the closest to the authentic bolognese sauce but since I haven’t been to Bologna, I don’t know how it compares so I’m just going to say it’s a ragù (of Sydney).
By the way, if you don’t know by now, you shouldn’t have spaghetti (as in the long round ones) with the meat sauce. You should have either short pasta or flat long pasta, hence my favourite is the tagliatelle.

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 400g Italian pork sausages, casing removed
• 400g beef sausages, casing removed
• 1 onion, peeled, finely chopped
• 1 large carrot, peeled, finely chopped
• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 8 anchovies
• 1 cup of red wine
• 50ml milk
• 700ml passata
• 2 tablespoons tomato purée
• 3 sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped
• 500g egg tagliatelle (or fettuccine)
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:

1. Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and cook the onion, carrot and celery for 5 minutes over a medium heat, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon.
2. Add the rosemary and cook for another minute or two.
3. Add in the sausages, break them up into small pieces and continue to cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring continuously until coloured all over. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Pour in the wine, stir well and continue to cook for 2 minutes until the wine has evaporated.
5. Pour in the milk, the passata and the tomato purée, then:

If you HAVE a slow cooker:

1. lower the heat and cook, uncovered, until the sauce is slightly reduced – about 5 minutes.
2. Transfer everything to the slow cooker and set it to “Bolognese” or “casserole” mode and slow cook it for at least 2 hours. The longer the better (up to 8 hours).

If you DON’T have a slow cooker:

1. lower the heat and cook, uncovered, for 2 hours. Stir the sauce every 20 minutes to prevent it from sticking.
2. Once the sauce is ready, remove from the heat, season with salt and pepper and set aside.

6. Cook the pasta in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until al dente. Transfer the pasta (with pasta water dripping) to the slow cooker. If not using a slow cooker, drain and tip back into the same pan.
7. Mix and gently stir everything together for 30 seconds to allow the flavours to combine.
8. Sprinkle some Parmigiano-Reggiano and serve hot.