Billionaire Bolognese, The Richest Bolognese Ragu

Ingredients

• Olive Oil
• 500g minced beef
• 500g minced veal
• 200g minced pork � or you can use lamb
• 3 large onions, finely diced
• 1 carrot, finely grated
• 1 celery, finely minced
• 5 cloves of garlic finely minced or put through a garlic press
• 15g dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 cup red wine
• 2 x 400g tins of diced tomatoes
• 2 heaped tablespoons tomato paste
• A piece of parmesan rind
• 1 cup beef stock
• Salt & freshly ground black pepper

To Serve

• Pasta � either spaghetti, fettucini or tagliatelle
• knob of butter
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Pan fired chicken livers � optional of course
• Serves 6-8

Directions

1. Heat a few tablespoons of oil in large, heavy based saucepan. When hot add the minced meat, crumbling it in as you add it and cook stirring and breaking up the meat until it is well browned.
2. Season well with salt and remove with a slotted spoon and set aside. Add a few more tablespoons of oil to the same pan and add the onions and a pinch of salt.
3. Cook for about 8-10 minutes over medium-low heat until the onions are soft and starting to brown.
4. Add the carrots, celery and garlic and cook for a further 10-12 minutes or until all the vegetables are completely softened.
5. Add porcini and mix well.
6. Return the meat to the pan and stir to incorporate with the vegetables.
7. Add the red wine and increase the heat; cook until the red wine has almost all evaporated.
8. Add the tomato paste, tinned tomatoes, parmesan rind and the beef stock � using the beef stock to wash out the cans of tomatoes.
9. Season well with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and partially cover with a lid and let it cook gently for a good 2-3 hours.
10. The longer the better but ensure that you check and stir often and that your heat is gentle enough to just maintain a slow simmer (you may need to use a simmer mat if your stove is too fierce).
11. After 3 hours check the seasoning and adjust if necessary.
12. Towards the end of the cooking time bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and add your pasta and cook until al dente.
13. Drain the pasta.
14. Add a couple of ladles of sauce to the pan that you cooked the pasta in and add the drained pasta back to the pan along with a good knob of butter.
15. Toss to coat the pasta with the sauce and butter and serve in large plates or bowls and top each plate with another ladle of ragu.
16. If you want to try it with some chicken livers just quickly flash fry a couple of chicken livers per person and place them on top of the pasta and sauce.
17. Serve straight away with grated parmesan.