Results from the home cooked Bolognese taste test are in – watch the video below!

As promised, here is the recipe for the winning sauce:

The winning Bolognese recipe

Matti says her sauce would not be what it is without the help of her boss, Ben Bonello. Ben helped Matti refine her recipe and she believes it’s his dose of love, passion and Maltese touch which made her Bolognese stand out.

Serves 4
Cooking time: 90 mins

Ingredients:

• 250g beef mince
• 250g pork mince
• 1 large onion diced
• 1 large carrot diced
• 4 cloves garlic crushed
• 3/4 cup tomato paste
• 375 ml red wine (merlot)
• 4 large ripe fresh tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 bunch chopped basil
• 1/2 bunch continental parsley
• 1/2 bunch chives
• Salt & cracked black pepper
• Extra virgin olive oil (generous)
• Truffle oil

Cooking Method:

Do not rush the cooking process. Allow all ingredients to caramelise gently!

1. Sauté onion and carrot in olive oil on a low to medium heat until lightly browned.
2. Add beef and pork and allow all water to evaporate. Beef particularly has a high water content. It is extremely important to allow all of this liquid to evaporate. Stir occasionally. This will take approx 20 mins.
3. In a separate pot, bring salted water to the boil. Make a cross on the bottom of each tomato with a small knife only enough to cut the skin. Drop the tomatoes in the water for a minute and remove. Then refresh under cold running water and the skins will come away easily. Puree the tomatoes and pass through a sieve so as to remove the seeds, set aside.
4. Once evaporation has occurred the meat will begin to sizzle. When this happens, add garlic, paprika, cumin and tomato paste. Allow to cook gently so the bottom of the pot becomes sticky and dark brown. Heat should remain steady and stir very often.
5. Add wine and stir until all residue from the bottom of the pot has been ‘picked up’.
6. Allow to reduce slightly then add tomatoes and simmer over low heat for 30 mins or until the consistency is to your preference.
7. Add chopped herbs, parmesan, salt and pepper and a silky slurp of truffle oil and enjoy!

Congratulations again Matti, and a special mention to the runners up: Abiramie Sathiamoorthy and Roslyn Russell.