An oldie but a goodie

Sometimes, when it comes to cooking, I think there is too much emphasis on being "original" and "different". Taking something delicious, then ruining it by adding quirky and unexpected ingredients, does not a good meal make. There's a whole cult of people out there who want to turn food creation into a pretentious, arty-farty elitist club, trying so hard to impress those around them by their ingenuity. I'm all for trying new recipes and mixing things up, but there are those times when you just want to get back to the basics.

And that's where the good, old-fashioned spag bol comes in. This is a dish that I've been happily enjoying since I was a wee child, so why fix what aint broken?

My mother is not exactly a whiz in the kitchen, but her tip for tasty spag bol that she passed on to me has been invaluable - add a can of tomato soup. That's right, tomato soup makes the yummiest spag bol!

So here's what you do:

First, saute a diced onion, a diced stalk of celery, a diced carrot and a crushed clove of garlic in some olive oil for about 5 minutes.

Then, add about 500g of beef mince and cook, breaking up the mince, until brown.

At this point, depending on how fatty the mince is, I may drain off some fat.

Then, add a can of tomoto soup, a can of diced tomatoes, 2tbs tomato paste/puree, a tsp of sugar, two bay leaves, salt, pepper and some mixed dried herbs (I use oregano and basil).

Simmer for about 20 minutes, then serve it on some al dente spaghetti.





And don't forget the garlic bread! I mince some fresh garlic into some butter and keep it in the fridge, so that I can make tasty garlic bread quickly and easily by popping some garlicky buttered bread into the toaster oven. Delish!