This Bolognese recipe was passed down to me by a dear chef friend of mine 25 years ago. I've since improvised, perfected it and now understand how to get the best flavour out of these simple ingredients. If you follow this recipe, you will not need to add sugar. Cook this on a Sunday and you'll be sorted for all your meals for the week ahead. If you make enough you can also freeze some for those late nights when you've come home from work, hangry. It's a great recipe for low-carb pasta dinner that is keto-friendly and packed with protein and omega-3's. 

Feeds 10
Prep 20 min
Cook 3 hrs

INGREDIENTS

• 5-6 sheets Lasagnooey lasagne sheets
• 125g grass-fed butter
• 110ml extra virgin olive oil
• 4 tbs of Worcestershire sauce
• 400g diced carrots
• 400g diced celery
• 300g diced onion
• 3 sprigs of Thyme
• 2 sprigs of Oregano or Rosemary
• 2 Bay leaves
• 600g pork (the higher the fat content the better), veal and beef mince mix
• 140g tomato paste - we used Mutti tomato paste
• 3 large fresh ripe tomato - cut into wedges  
• 1 can of finely chopped tomatoes - we used Polpa by Mutti
• Himalayan pink salt and pepper (to taste)
• 300g mushroom (optional)
• 300ml red wine (optional)
• 3 large chopped birds eye chilli (optional)
• Shredded Mozarella Cheese
• Grated Parmigiano Reggiano Cheese 

HOW TO COOK THE RAGU

STEP 1
To a large casserole pan, add the oil, butter, onion, thyme, oregano on high heat. Once the onions have wilted and you can smell the aroma add 2 generous pinches of salt. Add the carrot and celery stirring occasionally. Cook the ingredients until the bottom of your pan starts to brown, usually about 20 minutes. Add an additional 2 pinches of salt.

STEP 2
Still on high heat, add the mince. Brown, breaking up the meat while cooking. When the meat is browned, add 4 tbs of Worcestershire sauce. Cook the meat for a further 10-15 minutes, until it’s fragrant. Stir occasionally.

STEP 3
Add 140g of tomato paste and reduce the heat to medium. Stir occasionally. Add the fresh tomato wedges in to the pan. Then add 1 can of Mutti Polpa (finely chopped tomatoes). Stir in. Reduce the heat to low and add the bay leaves and chilli. Simmer until the fresh tomatoes break down.

STEP 4
At this stage, you can also add sliced portobello mushroom and/ or the red wine for additional depth of flavour. Gently simmer for 1 hour and add salt and pepper to taste.

HOW TO MAKE THE PAPPARDELLE

STEP 1
Boil a pot of water in a wide-mouth saucepan. For two servings, blanche 5 - 6 sheets of Lasagnooey for 2 minutes or until it's flexible enough to manipulate. Be careful as the sheets may stick to each other, so it's best to blanche it a couple of sheets at a time. Do not discard the cooking water.

STEP 2
Roll each each into a cigar shape, cut / scissor the sheets into pappardelle sized noodles (around 1.5cm) - you'll get about 4-5 pappardelle strands per sheet.

STEP 3
On a frying pan, add a splash of extra virgin olive oil and two servings of the Bolognese sauce. Stir occasionally to heat up and add your pappardelle - adding spoonfuls of the cooking water - to create a luscious looking pasta dish! Serve with grated parmesan and enjoy!