Wizard's Spaghetti Bolognese
Ingredients
I use
1 to 1.3 kg (2.2 to 2.9 lbs) premium beef mince
2 bacon rashers or 3 - 4 pieces shortcut bacon (no tails, no rind)
1 large onion or 2 medium onions (I use brown onions)
2 large or 3 small cloves of garlic, or a teaspoon of crushed garlic from jar
Tin of champignons pieces and stems or 3 large button mushrooms.
1 large carrot or 2 - 3 large baby carrots
1 green or red capsicum (bell pepper)
1 zucchini
Up to 3 types of pasta - I use white thin spaghetti, brown wholemeal spaghetti and green spinach fettucine
1 tin diced or crushed tomatoes. These sometimes have basil and oregano in them.
tomato sauce (ketchup)
Occasionally if I have left over tinned garden peas or sweet corn kernels I'll toss some in near the finish.
Utensils
1 large frypan, mine is like a wok with a long handle (a friend actually uses a wok)
1 large saucepan
1 colander (sieve)
1 sharp knife (I use a carving knife)
1 heat-resistant plastic spoon, mine is black
Preparation time 20 minutes
Unwrap the mince and have it ready to put in the frypan
I peel onions tears-free and slice lengthways and several times cross-ways, or into small chunks.
Peel and crush or thinly slice garlic if not using from a jar.
Dice bacon
Slice carrot into small chunks, I leave the skin on and use right down to the end.
Capsicum (pepper) I slice off a quarter to a third with a plastic picnic basket knife (lasts longer if not touched by stainless steel) and then slice thin, binning seeds from that part.
Zucchini slice thinly, use whole zucchini.
Pasta a half a handful of my three types, I mix them in the saucepan and add a little cooking salt.
I place the rest of the other ingredients into the frypan, and add the full tin of champignons pieces and stems. I drain off the excess water, but the water remaining goes in and I do not need to otherwise prepare the frypan.
I put a heaped teaspoon of my crushed garlic in, dispersed in small amounts at various points in the frypan.
Cooking
My frypan has a mostly glass lid with a metal surround, slotted to allow venting of excessive steam. I place that on top and cook the vegetables (not the capsicum/pepper) on high for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, then spoon the mix into a large tupperware bowl and seal a lid on it to keep warm and stand aside.
I then place the mince into the frypan, still switched on high and use the plastic spoon to break up the mince into bite-sized chunks and replace the lid and cook on high for 5 - 8 minutes then turn to half heat.
I switch the pasta saucepan onto high and when it starts to boil I stir it with my eating fork being sure none of it sticks to the bottom of the saucepan. I then turn it down to half and will ultimately turn it down to low near the finish.
At the same time as I switch on the pasta, I add a quarter tin of the diced tomatoes to the mince after spooning or flipping it over to the other side to cook more. A few minutes later, I add the sliced capsicum, stirring it in with the mince (I like it a little crisp). I then return the prepared vegetables from the tupperware bowl to the saucepan
Coming up to the finish line, I add a figure 8 of tomato sauce to the mince and vegetables and stir it in. and replace the lid and turn to low heat. 3 or 4 minutes later I turn the knobs to zero.
I pour the pasta into a colander (sieve) placed in the sink and let it drain for a minute then use kitchen tongs to place a quantity on a dinner plate, leaving a little behind.
I spoon a quantity of the mince and vegetables on top and then it's away to the TV for serving one. I have left the cooktop appliance switch on for now.
I am a glutton for this stuff, so a couple of commercial breaks after I have finished serving 1 (or by pausing a video from the set top box) I go back for serving 2.
This will be slightly smaller, and I will add to the top shredded cheese and a liberal sprinkling of parsley flakes. I cook that on high in the microwave (1,000 watts) for 1 minute, then it's back to the TV, after switching the cooktop appliance switch off.
Next morning I distribute the remaining mince and vegetables into 3 containers (if I have bought the larger size of mince), seal and place in the freezer. Along with the three-quarters of a tin of unused diced tomatoes in its own small container.
For the next 3 Saturday nights, I simply thaw out one of the containers of mince and vegetables, slice off a third of the remaining frozen diced tomatoes, add a slice or two of bacon, zucchini and capsicum and sliced button mushrooms, and away I go with another meal (two plates). For those nights, preparation and cooking time is as little as 15 - 20 minutes in total.
Preparation time
first night 25 - 30 minutes.
Cooking time
first night 25 - 30 minutes.
Serves 6 - 8 depending on quantity of mince used.
ROUND 1
ROUND 2
Cheers
Wizard
They werent always dead Butt she was always MAD! 
