Million-dollar spaghetti mince

Method

Serves 4  (This recipe by Kate Flower Food was kindly provided by Harvey Beef.)

Preheat oven to 180C.

Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic, and cook for 4–6 minutes until softened.

Add the beef mince and cook, breaking up any large lumps with a wooden spoon, for 8–10 minutes or until browned. Add tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes to sweeten.

Add the tomato passata, beef stock, thyme, rosemary, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper, and mix to combine. Bring the sauce to a simmer.

Reduce heat to low, cover with a lid and cook for 30 minutes (up to three hours) or until thickened and reduced. You want the sauce to be quite wet as it will thicken more when cooking with the pasta in the oven.

While the sauce is simmering, cook the pasta in a large saucepan of salted boiling water according to packet instructions. Drain and drizzle a little oil through the pasta to keep it from sticking before setting aside.

Meanwhile, add all ingredients for the cheesy layer to a medium bowl. Season and stir until well combined. Add a little extra milk if you’d like to loosen the cheesy mix more.

To assemble, add a couple of generous spoons of the meat sauce to the base of a large baking dish (35cm x 25cm x 8cm) and spread around.

Add half the cooked spaghetti and spread evenly across the dish. Dollop over all the cheesy mix (it will be thick, but will melt when heated).

Top with half the meat sauce. Then layer with the remaining spaghetti.

Top with the rest of the meat sauce, evenly spread for a flat surface, then scatter with remaining mozzarella and parmesan cheese.

Bake in a preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the cheese is melted, golden and the sauce is bubbling at the edges.