Bolognese sauce is one of the favorite sauce to accompany any kind of pasta. It was prepared in ancient Italy, but the first ones didn't include tomatoes and only the rich people could eat it. With time the recipe changed a lot and the most important is that everyone could eat it, rich and poor. Some people say that the meat to use must be cut in small cubes, I have eaten in Italy and other countries made with minced meat.

I consider it an excellent sauce to prepare and keep in the fridge to have it at hand when need it because it takes long to make it, so that it is better to prepare a big quantity to spend less ingredients and energy. In my case I use gas and here in Venezuela the gas has become to expensive.

When you make a big quantity you reduce the amount of ingredients. If you cook this sauce for say a half an hour it doesn't taste the same as if you cook it for more than 1 hour. I cook it for 2 hours boiling until it reduces the liquids and at the end it must be thick. It musn't be watery. It is too easy to prepare, but takes long time of cooking.

Ingredients:

• 1 Kilo of minced meat of good quality
• 1 kilo of ripen tomatoes without skin
• 2 cups of pasata (casera if possible)
• 1 red pepper
• 2 small onions
• 2 small carrots
• 1 celery stalk (optional)
• olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves
• 1 tablespoon of dried oregano o thyme
• salt at taste
• pepper

Preparation:

• fry the minced meat in olive oil without burning it
• in a blender place the tomatoes, red pepper, onions, garlics and carrots
• add to the meat together with the pasata
• adjust the salt
• add some pepper
• add the oregano
• add the celery stalk (opcional because some people don't like its flavour)
• boil for 10 minutes and then low heat and cook with the lid on for 2 hours

• once cooked take out the celery stalk and place in sterilized jars, cool and keep in the fridge
• to serve on pasta you have to warm it
  It really makes the difference to cook it for 2 hours, it becomes delicious.