Family Bolognese

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic and carrot. Season with salt. Cook, stirring often, for 5-6 minutes or until the onions are translucent. Now add the eggplant and cook for another 5 minutes or until the eggplant has softened.

Add the beef and pork mince to the pan, and break it up using your spatula. Cook, tossing, for 5-6 minutes or until it’s starting to colour.

Stir through the tomato paste until well combined, then pour in the crushed tomatoes and the passata. Fill each can a quarter-full with water and swish around to gather up all those remnants before emptying into the pan. Give everything a good mix, using your spatula to carefully break up any larger pieces of tomato, until all the ingredients are incorporated. Now add the star anise, bay leaves, thyme and soy sauce. Turn the heat to medium-low or until things are at a  gentle simmer, then cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 1 hour, being sure to check that the mixture doesn’t become too dry (if it does, just stir through a little water).

Remove the lid and stir through the cream. Simmer for another 5 minutes to allow everything to make friends. Use tongs to remove and discard the star anise and bay leaves. Season with salt to taste, then serve with your pasta of choice.

– In a hurry? My 15-Minute Bolognese recipe delivers big flavour in a fraction of the time (it’s all thanks to the wok action, no less).

– Try using leftover meat sauce in my Bolognese Roll-ups recipe for another family favourite dinner.