Mince 500g mince may seem a lot for 2 people in this recipe, and yes you may have a little bit leftover, but it reduces down so much when you’re frying it and getting it crispy, which is why I feel like any less is just too little. As for fat content, the higher the fat content, the tastier it will be, but I will leave that up to you to choose. It’s still good with 5% mince. I do tend to go for 20% as I love it that way. Drain the liquid As mentioned, liquid/moisture will prevent any crisping and turning golden. So after a few minutes when the beef has released some liquid, either drain through a sieve or use a spoon to remove it from the pan. The fat is useful of course but the liquid is not - you know what I mean when it releases liquid… Remove it! Sweet potatoes Goes without saying that you can also do these sweet potatoes in the microwave if you have the bolognese already prepped and ready and don’t want to wait an hour. They are best and crispiest in the oven but microwave is just fine. Pierce all over and then place on a microwave-safe plate. Cook on high for about 2-3 minutes, then flip it over and repeat. It may need longer as sweet potatoes can really vary in size! You can’t really overcook it so just keeping adding 30-60 seconds more each time until soft all the way through. This would also be really good with a normal baked potato, or a jacket potato as we call them here. Give your potatoes a good hour if using a normal potato. I love doing this with the bolognese but adding a little béchamel sauce when I’m assembling it. Holy Moly it’s so good. Wine Totally optional as I know this is a weeknight recipe but if you do happen to have any wine open already, a slosh of wine here is welcome and it deglazes the pan so well. Tomato sauce I usually would use a plain passata if I had hours but when you’re short of time, finding little ways to add lots of flavour is key. So I like to use a passata that is enhanced with garlic, herbs or whatever elser rather than a plain 100% tomato one. Try to find one with no added sugar, just lots of tomato, garlic and herbs. Makes it so good.

Make this recipe even easier: If my recipes can try to convince you of one thing, it’s to use your blenders and food processors. I can’t tell you how much I love and use mine - I have a NutriBulletfor blending and a Magimixas a larger food processor but thisKitchenAid mini chopper is so good too for quicker, smaller things. So in this recipe, I just threw the veggies into my food processor and it blitzes them up in 10 seconds vs lots of chopping.

How to double the recipe: very easy, just double it all as above and continue on. I actually like making a batch with 1.5kg beef mince as it freezes SO well and then you have more meals to go when ready with no effort.

What to do with leftovers: if you have leftovers, it reheats beautifully in the microwave or in a pan over medium heat with a splash of water to loosen it. If you have made a huge batch, you can make my pasta bolognese bake. I also love left over baked sweet potatoes. Gorgeous tossed through a salad.