BOLOGNESE WITH FENNEL SALSICCIA AND 'NDUJA

ingredients

• 1 msk Nonna Elide Olivolja Extra Jungfru
• 250 g Nonna Elide Salsiccia Fänkål, casing removed
• 500 g beef mince or mixed mince
• 50 g Nonna Elide 'Nduja di Spilinga
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 2 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 10 small cherry tomatoes
• 3 msk tomato purée
• 3 dl wine — dry white or unoaked red, choose whichever you like best
• 400 g crushed tomatoes
• 3 dl water
• 1 beef stock cube
• 1 msk veal stock
• 1 tsk salt, plus more to taste
• 1 tsk white pepper
• 1 parmesan rind
• 3 bay leaves
• A few fresh basil leaves
• Spaghetti, grated parmesan and a good olive oil, to serve

method

• Sauté the soffritto — onion, celery and carrots — in the olive oil over medium-high heat until the vegetables have softened.
• Add the beef mince and the salsiccia and fry together. Add the 'nduja shortly after and stir until it's melted into the mince.
• Turn up the heat and let it fry until the mince has really crispy edges in places. That's where a lot of the flavour sits.
• Add the garlic and cherry tomatoes and sauté briefly with the rest.
• Stir in the tomato purée and let it fry for about 5 minutes, until the colour has deepened and darkened. This takes away the acidity.
• Pour in the wine and let it reduce down properly for a few minutes before adding anything else — otherwise the wine flavour stays raw and too dominant.
• Add crushed tomatoes, water, stock cube, veal stock, 1 tsk salt and the white pepper. Stir together.
• Lower the heat. Add the parmesan rind and bay leaves and let the bolognese simmer for at least an hour. Longer is only better — the flavour keeps deepening.
• Fish out the bay leaves and the parmesan rind, if it's still there — it may have dissolved completely. Taste for salt only now, once everything has cooked together.
• Cook the spaghetti. Tear a few basil leaves into the sauce, mix the pasta with some of the bolognese and serve the rest alongside.
• Top with grated parmesan and a splash of good olive oil.

nonna's tips

Never throw away the parmesan rind. Keep it in a bag in the freezer — it's the cheapest way to give a sauce depth, and in a slow-cooked bolognese it does more good than any ingredient you could buy.

Nonna vet bäst.