OH COOK! STAR JAMES MAY TAKES Spag Bol

I’ve never met anyone who doesn’t like a spag bol. Strictly, this one is a ragù sauce, but ‘Bolognese’ now means any meat and tomato sauce on pasta. This needs less than half a bottle of red wine... use the rest in your face.

SERVES 4 PREP TIME: 15 MINUTES COOKING TIME: 40 MINUTES 2 tbsp olive oil 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped 2 carrots, peeled and diced 3 celery stalks, diced 2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed 450g/1lb minced (ground) beef 2 tbsp tomato purée 300ml/10fl oz/ 1¼ cups red wine 1 x 400g/14oz can of chopped tomatoes A few fresh thyme sprigs 450g/1lb spaghetti 4 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese Salt & pepper 1 For the ragù sauce, heat the oil in a large pan, add onion, carrots and celery and fry until tender – around 5 minutes. Add the garlic and fry for another minute or two. 2 Add the beef. Stir and cook until browned. Turn it over constantly with a spatula to stop lumps. Stir in tomato purée and wine. Bring to boil. 3 Add tomatoes and thyme, salt ’n’ pepper it, and bring back to boil. Once boiling, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. If it looks too dry after a bit, add a tablespoon of water. Should you add the lid? Depends on how runny it is. Lid management is worthy of a PHD. 4 While that’s happening, put a large pan of salted water on to boil. Using a pan too small will make the pasta clag into a medieval building material. I use a whopper.

When boiling, add the spaghetti and cook a minute or two less than the packet says to ensure the pasta is ‘al dente’, i.e. with a slight bite to it. Drain the pasta into a colander in the sink and give it a douse with cold water to stop it cooking any further. Return the spaghetti to the same pan. Add the sauce to the pasta and mix well. 5 Divide between warmed plates and serve sprinkled with Parmigiano Reggiano cheesiano.