Ingredients

Method

• extra virgin olive oil, for frying
• 1 kg free-range beef mince
• celery salt, to taste
• 2 onions, peeled and finely diced
• 1 carrot, grated
• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 x 400 g can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 litre beef or chicken stock
• 3 sprigs fresh rosemary
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 x 250 g packet Woolworths fresh fettuccine
• 4 handfuls aged Cheddar, grated

Method

Ingredients

1. Pour 2 good glugs of olive oil into a large pan. Heat to smoking point, then add the mince. Season with celery salt and cook the mince, stirring, until brown all over. Remove the mince from the pan and set aside in a large bowl.
2. Deglaze the pan with ½ cup water by increasing the heat to high, bringing the liquid to a boil while you stir and scrape the browned bits from the pan until they dissolve into a sauce. Remove the sauce from the pan and set aside in a jug.
3. Heat more olive oil in the pan and add the onions and carrot. Season with celery salt and sauté until softened. Stir in the garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add the cooked mince, the sauce (from deglazing the pan), tomatoes and stock. Add the rosemary and reduce to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally, until you have a thick, rich sauce. The tomato will break down but will not be completely smooth. Season to taste.
4. Cook the pasta in a large pot of fast-boiling, salted water until al dente (check the packet for cooking time). Drain, drizzle with olive oil and season to taste.
5. Plate the pasta, top with the mince and finish off with a huge handful of cheese.

Cook's note:
This is a really simple recipe and no one makes it like my gran does,” says the executive head chef at Umhlanga’s The Chefs’ Table. “Her Bolognese was the first thing I learned to cook as a child and I still have it on my birthday every year. The rosemary comes out of the garden in our family home. The bush is about 15 years old and the herb has an amazing intense flavour when it’s freshly picked. My gran is adamant that celery salt is the secret ingredient in her Bolognese recipe."

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