Spaghetti Bolognese - Old School

With the large influx of Italian immigrants after WWII, the locals gradually became acquainted with a new concept of spaghetti in places like Lygon Street in Melbourne, Newtown in Sydney, Freemantle in Perth and a host of other places across Australia. The safest dish on the menu was often Spaghetti Bolognese,(Simply spaghetti with a tomato & meat sauce).The origins are dubious, in Bologna the meat sauce is much more of a ragu with little tomato often eaten with a stuffed pasta rather then spaghetti.

Over time Spaghetti Bolognese found its way into Australian kitchens and was cooked by everyone from, dads doing their first serious stint in a kitchen, kids in their first attempt at a main course, young men hoping to impress their new girlfriends, and so on. Everyone has a recipe for a "spag bol" because by now it has become entrenched in our culinary lives. This is Neil Perry's take on a classic.

Ingredients - Prep Time - Serves 4

• Extra virgin olive oil
• ½ brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 small carrot, diced
• 1 stick celery, diced
• 100g Schultz smoky bacon, diced
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 300g beef mince
• 300g pork mince
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 tin whole Italian tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1/3 bunch fresh thyme, roughly chopped
• 100g dried spaghetti per person
• Parmigiana Reggiano Parmesan cheese

Serve along side a medium bodied Sangeovese, Merlot or even a rich, malty "biere" like this Months beer of the Month.