Linguine Bolognese

I've always loved pasta bolognese. Spaghetti bolognese was the first Italian dish I've ever eaten, thanks to mum's recommendation many, many years ago.

For years I've been cooking bolognese sauce from jars (Dolmio seemed to be quite a favourite). When I came to Australia, I decided to learn how to make the sauce from scratch once and for all. This has been tried and tested for quite some time now, and I'm glad to say that I no longer make pasta dishes from jars. The husband and I thoroughly enjoy this dish, and I hope you do too.

Ingredients:
200g pork mince
200g beef mince
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
1 onion, finely diced
1 carrot, finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
1 can of chopped tomatoes
1/2 can of button mushrooms (you can use fresh mushrooms if you like)
1 cup of beef stock (or 1 cube of beef bullion mixed in 1 cup of hot water)
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp basil (or 1/2 tsp of dried basil)
1 tsp rosemary (or 1/2 tsp of dried rosemary)
1 tsp thyme (or 1/2 tsp of dried thyme)
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 bay leaf
1 cup white wine
Linguine (I used linguine just for fun; you can always stick to classic spaghetti)
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
Parsley and shaved parmesan to serve

Method:
1. Heat oil in a large sauce pan.
2. Saute onions and garlic until soft.
3. Add beef and pork mince and brown over high heat, stirring constantly to break lumps.
4. Add diced carrot, celery and mushrooms. Stir and fry for about 5 minutes.
5. Add the can of chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, beef stock, herbs, and seasoning. Bring to boil.
6. Turn heat down to LOW and simmer for 30 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated and sauce is thick.
7. Remove bay leaf from sauce before serving.
8. Boil and drain pasta as per packet directions. Toss with a dash of olive oil and ground black pepper.
9. Pour sauce over pasta. Sprinkle with cheese.

Mixing the pork mince with the beef mince gives the sauce more flavour. Mushrooms are not part of a classic bolognese recipe, but I love them, so I just threw them in for added chunks.

I didn't add any cheese to this dish as I ran out and forgot to buy any. To be honest, I'm not too keen on having cheese on my sauce, but that's just me.

Enjoy!