Spaghetti Bolognese is usually a winner with kids and our most frequently served dish for playdates! Even the fussiest of eaters seem to like this family favourite and when it’s packed full of veg, it’s a healthy, nourishing dish that’s cheap and easy to prepare. There’s always enough left-over to freeze for a quick meal at a later date, and it’s a base for other great dishes like lasagne, cottage pie and chilli con-carne.

The ingredients that give this Bolognese recipe ‘the edge’ are Worcestershire sauce, teriyaki sauce and the stock cube, not classic additions to Bolognese but they really work, giving a savoury background flavour to the dish. As my lot are quite happy with having veg in this dish, I tend to keep them chunky but when they were younger, everything was chopped really finely and sometimes whizzed up afterwards! The level of precision chopping is up to you!

Ingredients:

Splash cooking oil, I use rape seed
1 small white onion, finely chopped
2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped or crushed
750g mince beef
Small tin tomato puree (142g)
2 (400g) tins of chopped tomatoes or 1 tin plus a portion of roasted vegetable sauce
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tsp teriyaki sauce
1 beef OXO cube (or other stock cube)
Glass of red wine (optional)
2 tsp mixed herbs
2 large carrots, sliced
1 pepper- any colour
200g white mushrooms, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:

In a large saucepan gently fry the onion in the oil until translucent
Add the garlic and keep stirring for a couple of minutes to prevent burning
Add the mince, stir and chop through with a spatula occasionally, until browned

⇒

Add the puree, tin tomatoes, roasted veg sauce (if using), Worcestershire sauce, teriyaki sauce, stock cube and mixed herbs
Use the wine to wash out the tins or a little water if you are not using wine

Add the carrots and pepper
Cover and simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes
Take the pan off the heat and skim off any fat from the top
Return the pan to the heat and add the mushrooms
Cover and simmer on a low heat for a further 40-50 minutes depending on the size of veg pieces
More skimming may be necessary depending on your mince