Bolognese will be tastier and richer when you add 1 kitchen scrap to the sauce

I never make bolognese without it

Spaghetti bolognese is a beloved weeknight staple, prepared in countless different ways. It’s an incredibly versatile dish, and you can incorporate a wide range of vegetables into a bolognese, from mushrooms and carrots to celery.

I regularly prepare slow-cooker spaghetti bolognese, following and adapting Poppy Cooks’ recipe.

It’s a fairly straightforward recipe that yields a delicious bolognese, but the addition of just one ingredient — a Parmesan rind — makes it notably richer and more flavourful. The rind gradually releases flavour throughout the cooking process, adding greater depth to the sauce.

The rind also contains collagen-like proteins that melt slowly, lending the sauce a silkier, more rounded texture.

This helps counterbalance the acidity of the tomatoes and wine without imparting an overpowering cheesy or dairy flavour.

You needn’t use a slow cooker to reap the benefits of the Parmesan rind either.

It works equally well when preparing the dish on the hob or in the oven.

Slow cooker bolognese recipe

Ingredients:

• 500g pork mince
• 500g beef mince
• One large onion, finely diced
• Two celery sticks, finely diced
• Three tablespoons of tomato puree
• 400g can of chopped tomatoes
• 200ml red wine
• 200ml beef stock
• Half a teaspoon of sugar
• Two bay leaves
• One Parmesan rind
• Splash of olive oil
• 100ml whole milk
• 300g spaghetti
• One tablespoon of cornflour, slackened with water

Method:

Begin by placing the pork, beef, onions, carrots, celery, tomato purée, chopped tomatoes, red wine, stock, sugar, bay leaves, Parmesan rind, one teaspoon of salt, plenty of pepper and a dash of olive oil into the bowl of your slow cooker.

Cook on the low setting for eight to 10 hours, stirring once or twice during that time.

When one hour remains, stir in the milk.

Then, with 30 minutes to go, add the spaghetti and increase the heat to high.

On occasion, I’ll cook the spaghetti separately, but once the meat is thoroughly cooked, stir in the cornflour slurry and add a generous amount of olive oil.

The bolognese will turn out glossy and utterly delicious, and you’ll be glad you took the time to add the Parmesan rind.