Healthy Tomato And Basil Bolognaise

Classifying the Basil Bolognaise as 'healthy', as the onions have been 'sweated' in water as opposed to fried in oil.

· 1kg lean minced beef

· 1 tablespoon of olive oil

· ½ cup boiling water

· 2 sliced onions

· 4 crushed cloves of garlic

· 2 x 150g tins of tomato paste

· 2 x 450g tins of chopped tomatoes

· handful of freshly picked and shredded basil leaves

· 1 tablespoon of sugar

· 1 cup of red wine

· freshly ground black pepper to taste

How to add everything together

• Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes.

• Add the water and 'sweat' the onions for 5 minutes or until soft.

• Add more water if required.

• Add the mince and brown.

• Stir in the tomatoes, paste, sugar and black pepper.

• Simmer for 30 minutes.

• Stir in the red wine and the basil and cook for a further 10 minutes.

• Serve the basil bolognaise with pasta of your choice and top with a sprig of fresh basil.

The basil bolognaise actually improves in flavour the longer it's cooked, so if you have time to cook it for 2 hours, do so. The red wine and the basil should still be added to the basil bolognaise 10 minutes before the end; otherwise they will both loose their flavours.