THE ART OF FRIDAY NIGHT DINNER

This versatile dish with a fresh twist is perfect for when there’s a hint of autumn in the air

Iget a disproportionate amount of pleasure from making what I call “cooks itself ” food. All those dishes that require a bit of help to get going and then sort themselves out in the heat of the oven. I have little interest in a recipe that takes five hours from start to finish, unless four-and-a-half of those hours require me to do nothing more than potter about, while the pan, quietly blipping away over a low flame, fills my flat with the scent of what will eventually be a very good dinner. There is just something so satisfying about starting with a couple of onions, some aromatics, a hunk of meat and a slosh of liquid, and hours later being presented with a pan full of flavour and rich, saucy goodness. It’s the sort of cooking that makes me feel like I’ve cracked a code.

The great thing about a dish like this is that the smallest twist or turn can take it in a completely different direction. Add smoked chillies, a slosh of coffee and brown sugar and it becomes an earthy cowboy chilli. Dried mushrooms, white wine in lieu of red, ditch the passata and it’s a white ragout to be tossed through pasta.

This incarnation is somewhere between a ragout and a stew, though the splash of red wine vinegar and scattering of parsley ensure it’s fresh enough to be exactly what you want when there’s a sniff of autumn in the air. I’m serving this with good bread and a fennel salad, but you could have it over creamy polenta or with pasta – in which case, loosen the sauce with a little of the cooking water from the pasta to help coat it.