Family Fave Spaghetti Bolognese with Smuggled Vegetables, Parmesan & Basil

Prepare Ingredients:

Wash the fresh produce. If using a food processor, peel and roughly chop onion, garlic and carrot. Trim zucchini and cut in half lengthwise, removing seeds, and roughly chop. Pick basil leaves, discarding stems. Put a large pot of salted water on to boil, for cooking spaghetti in step 5.

Process Vegetables:

Add roughly chopped ¾ of the onion (you will have some leftover), garlic, carrot, large handful of spinach, zucchini and ½ the basil to food processor and blitz until finely chopped. (TIP: if you don't have a food processor you can small dice all the vegetables, or grate).

Start Bolognese:

Heat olive oil (enough to cover base) in a deep sided pan over medium heat. Add processed vegetables and sweat off for 2 - 3 minutes, until they start to soften. Add tomato paste and cook a further 2 minutes, until paste darkens in colour.

Finish Bolognese:

Add red wine and stir well. Cook until almost dry, about 2 minutes. Add passata and bring back to a simmer. Add mince, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as you add. Bring back to a simmer and cook bolognese for 10 - 12 minutes, stirring occasionally until mince is cooked and sauce has thickened slightly. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cook Spaghetti:

While bolognese simmers, add spaghetti to the pot of boiling water and cook 7 - 9 minutes, or until al dente (still slightly firm to the bite). Drain well.

You Plate It:

Add drained spaghetti to the pan of bolognese sauce, coating the pasta in the sauce. Divide between bowls and garnish with parmesan and any remaining basil leaves. Enjoy!