Ragu ragu!

So....bolognese sauce. Everybody's favourite, old faithful, classically lovely. So why has everybody got their own recipe? The Ragu sauce that takes its name from its origins in Bologna, Italy bears little resemblance to the slop found on some dining room tables and restaurant passes. Even so, everyone loves this old favourite and most people have a recipe that is particularly unique to them. So in the vein of everything that is Delia Smith, here is my version....

Ingredients:

500g lean beef mince (a little pork mince would be great too!)
2 tins chopped tomatoes
Glass of wine (preferably a good full-bodied Merlot or Shiraz)
4 cloves of garlic
2 small onions (or 1 large one!)
2 sticks of celery
3 smallish carrots
A whole pack of button mushrooms
2 heaped tspn's of Oregeno
A bunch of fresh basil
Worcestershire Sauce (1/5th of a bottle)
2 small chunks of dark chocolate (above 70% cocoa)
Beef stock cube
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Cooking method:

1. Chop all veg into tiny pieces, sounds laborious but adds to the rich texture!
2. In the meantime, cook your mince down in your large, heavy-bottomed saucepan with the glass of wine and half the worcester sauce. This will help infuse the flavours into the meat and not just into the sauce.
3. Remove the meat and liquid and set aside, in the same pot add a good lug of extra virgin olive oil and start to sweat the garlic and onions, leave them in for 5-7 minutes or until sweet and starting to caremalise.
4. Add the rest of the veg, oregano and chopped basil (including chopped stalks) and sweat down for 10 minutes until you have a fragrant mix of vegetables and herbs.
5. Add your mince and liquid and stir on a medium heat. Add the tomatoes and break in your stock cube and chocolate. At this point you will have the beginnings of a good rich rust coloured sauce. You may want to add 200ml of water just to give it enough consistency for the hours ahead!
6. Leave on a low heat for at least 3 hours or 5 if you have the time or the inclination to ensure the richness and the flavours are transferred from one ingrediant to the next.
7. To finish, add the remaining worcester sauce, basil leaves and a splash of the wine for good measure.
8. Serve with tagliatelle, buckets of Parmigiano Reggiano and fresh baby leaf salad.

Lovely stuff!