Just back from a wonderful break in France, I took some of my bolognese sauce out of the freezer – but I wanted to jazz it up and refresh it. Here’s my trick.
Make a quick tomato base. Warm a generous amount of olive oil on a very low heat and shave in two fat cloves of garlic, taking out the bitter green centre first. Add a generous pinch of dried chilli flakes and let it infuse for 3–5 minutes without colouring.
Add the tomatoes. I always use whole plum tomatoes and break them up by hand – tinned chopped tomatoes are just mush. Add a little salt, a little oregano and, yes, a little sugar. I was talking to some Italians in France who said even in Italy people add sugar – it makes the tomatoes sing!
Cook it down. Leave it for 30–40 minutes until all the excess water has gone and it’s lovely and jammy.
Add the bolognese. Stir in the defrosted meat sauce and heat through. It gives it that little bit of pep.
Serve. Cook the spaghetti in plenty of salted water and move it straight into the sauce with tongs. I go for more sauce than pasta. Finish with lots of freshly grated Parmesan, black pepper and torn basil.