Spaghetti bolognese is richer and tastier when you add 1 kitchen scrap to the sauce

Spaghetti bolognese is a household favourite for countless families, and it can be prepared in a multitude of ways. It is an incredibly versatile dish, and a wide range of vegetables can be incorporated, including mushrooms, carrots and celery.

A slow-cooker version, based on and adapted from Poppy Cooks' recipe, is well worth making regularly.

It is a fairly straightforward recipe, combining both pork and beef mince to create a truly mouth-watering bolognese, yet one particular ingredient elevates it to another level entirely: a Parmesan rind. As it cooks slowly, the rind gradually releases its flavour, adding depth to the sauce — and once you have tried it, you will never look back.

The rind also contains collagen-like proteins that melt gently, lending the sauce a silkier, more rounded mouthfeel.

This helps to temper the acidity of the tomatoes and wine without imparting an overpowering cheesy or dairy flavour.

It is worth noting that you do not need to use a slow cooker to reap the benefits of the Parmesan rind. Simply adding it to a traditionally cooked bolognese will yield similarly impressive results.

Ingredients:

• 500g pork mince
• 500g beef mince
• 400g can of chopped tomatoes
• 200ml red wine
• 200ml beef stock
• Half a teaspoon of sugar
• Two bay leaves
• One Parmesan rind
• Splash of olive oil
• 100ml whole milk
• 300g spaghetti
• One tablespoon of cornflour, slackened with water.

Method:

Begin by placing the pork, beef, onions, carrots, celery, tomato purée, chopped tomatoes, red wine, stock, sugar, bay leaves, Parmesan rind, one teaspoon of salt, lots of pepper and a splash of olive oil into the slow cooker bowl.

Cook on low for eight to 10 hours, stirring once or twice throughout. With one hour remaining, stir in the milk.

Then, when 30 minutes remain, add the spaghetti and turn the heat to high.

Occasionally, I cook the spaghetti separately, but once the meat is thoroughly cooked, I mix in the cornflour slurry and add plenty of olive oil.

The bolognese will have a lovely sheen and taste wonderful, and you will be grateful for including the Parmesan rind.

If preparing on the hob, simply add the Parmesan rind while the sauce is gently bubbling to achieve very similar results. That said, a slow cooker remains the best method for achieving the most tender meat.

You can store Parmesan rinds in the fridge, though I also freeze them so they last even longer.