To serve 4 people with hearty appetites

1/2 kg mince meat - pre-cooked with a little salt, 2 cloves of garlic and dash of oregano. Alternately 2 1/2 cups of diced mixed vegetables with the same garnishing. in both cases save a cup of the stock (water that is left over after pressuring)

You will need for the sauce: 5 medium sized tomatoes, 2 medium onions minced, 5-6 cloves of garlic, 2 big pinches of oregano (what I do is save up the sachets that come with pizzas), a maggi veg or chicken stock cube, a dash of chilli sauce, a dash of soya sauce.

Put the tomatoes in the mixie and puree them along with two cloves of garlic. In a deep frying pan, put in about 5 tbsps of olive oil (unsalted butter is your next option, salted butter your third, but keep checking for saltiness of dish and regular oil your fourth).

Finely mince the remaining garlic cloves and fry them, add the minced onions and fry them till the onions turn soft. At this point add the tomato puree and cook on high heat. After around 3-4 minutes, add the oregano, chilli sauce, soya sauce and the stock cube. Cook till sauce becomes thick and stir constantly. As the sauce thickens, add in the cup of stock water you had saved. Add only half if you think the sauce is too watery for your liking. Reduce the heat and simmer for around 5 minutes. After which you add the meat / vegetables, close the vessel and simmer till the sauce is to the consistency you like. Check for saltiness since, the stock cube and soya sauce are salty in themselves. The sauce generally takes half hour to 40 minutes of cooking time in total to get the right consistency.

This sauce is enough for around 250 grams of spaghetti which you will have to make according to the instructions on the packet.

Spaghetti Bolognese a la Ruth