Wine-based Spag Bol

Cook time: One Hour

Serves: Four

Ingredients:

• 500g mince meat
• Bag of pasta
• 2 onions
• 1 carrot
• 2 wineglasses of port
• 2 tins of chopped tomato
• Olive oil
• Garlic paste
• Tobasco sauce
• Mixed herbs
• Sugar, salt and pepper
• Parmesan cheese

Dice up the onions and carrot. If possible, microwave the carrots for two minutes with a dash of water to soften slightly. Then, put these on the heat. Shortly thereafter add in the mince, along with the garlic.

Once the mince is just about cooked, splash in the port and tins of chopped tomato, stirring continuously as the meal continues cooking. As you go along, at your fancy, add in a few dollops of Tobasco sauce and mixed herbs, and a pinch each of sugar, salt and pepper. Taste and adjust the proportions of your flavour accordingly.

Once the meal is nearing ready, turn the heat right down to a very low simmer, the sort of low blaze your campfire may be operating at by 11:30pm thanks to your wine-induced negligence. There is a lot of liquid in the meal, so best not to use a lid during simmering, though if you are using the outside kitchen and flies are about, panic not, a lid is no catastrophe.

The longer you allow the meal to simmer, always keeping an eye not to burn it, the more the flavours will infuse and come to the surface. Towards the end of the simmer, boil up your pasta and serve, adding the parmesan.