Rich Sausage Meat and Bacon Ragu Al Forno

Once the pan is hot, add the sausage meat and bacon lardons.

Fry until both the bacon and sausage have browned, 5-6 mins. Use a spoon to break it up as it cooks. IMPORTANT: Wash your hands and equipment after handling raw meat. Cook bacon thoroughly. Once browned, drain and discard any excess fat from the sausage.

Meanwhile, trim the carrot, then quarter lengthways (no need to peel). Chop widthways into small pieces.

Once the meat is browned, stir in the mixed herbs, passata, red wine stock paste, carrot and sugar and water for the sauce (see pantry for both amounts). Season with salt and pepper.

Bring the sauce up to the boil, then pop a lid on the pan (or cover with foil) and bake on the middle shelf of your oven until the meat is tender and the sauce has thickened, 20-25 mins. IMPORTANT: The sausage meat is cooked when no longer pink in the middle.

When there are 15 mins of ragu cooking time left, bring a large saucepan of water to the boil with 1/2 tsp salt for the spaghetti.

When boiling, add the spaghetti to the water and bring back to the boil. Cook until tender, 8 mins. Once cooked, drain in a colander and pop back in the pan.

Drizzle with oil and stir through to stop it sticking together.

Remove the ragu from the oven, stir in the sun-dried tomato paste, cooked pasta, butter (see pantry for amount) and half of the hard Italian style cheese. 

Taste and season with salt and pepper if needed. Add a splash of water to loosen the sauce if you'd like.