Photo credits: Adobe Stock Images Spaghetti Bolognese, a true comfort dish. One of the most easily recognisable dishes in the world and a personal favourite of mine. The recipe I follow, originally from BBC Good Food , makes enough for at least four good-sized meals, and you can always freeze the Bolognese if you want to keep it for a bit longer!  It takes roughly an hour to make, so you should make it on an evening you aren’t busy and keep the leftovers for those nights when you’re elbows-deep in essay research or have just come back from a busy shift.  Personally, I like to complement my Spaghetti Bolognese with a bit of vegetables. You can make this vegetarian or vegan to suit your diet—or use a different mince if you’re not keen on beef.  Remember to allow enough time for the pasta to cook. I recommend doing this while the Bolognese is simmering. Ingredients    Olive oil for frying  400g beef mince (or alternative)  1 onion  2 garlic cloves  2x400g tins of chopped tomatoes  400ml beef stock (or alternative), made from a stock cube  400g pasta of your choice (I usually use fusilli, as that’s what is in my cupboard, but you can use almost any type of pasta, save perhaps penne lisce as it is very smooth)  Salt and pepper to taste    Optional ingredients   Herbs or seasonings to taste  100g grated carrot to add to Bolognese sauce  Vegetables of your choice    Method   For the Bolognese sauce   Dice your onion and crush your garlic cloves. Make your stock from a stock cube and hot water according to the package directions. Set everything aside.  Add olive oil to a pan on medium heat. When hot, fry the mince and onions until the mince is cooked through and brown and the onions are translucent white (roughly 5-6 minutes) on medium-high heat—make sure not to burn the onions! Add the garlic and cook for another 2 minutes.  Add the mince and any juices back into the pan. If you are adding grated carrot, do that here.  Pour in the tomatoes and stir well. Add the stock, bring to a boil, and then turn the heat down and let the sauce simmer gently until rich and thick, stirring occasionally. Add any herbs or seasonings you wish.    For the pasta   Boil enough water to cover your pasta in the kettle, then add to a pan on high heat. Add a pinch of salt to the hot water and let boil.   Once boiling, add the pasta to the pan and cook according to package instructions or taste. Stir occasionally to avoid the pasta sticking to the bottom of the pan. Place a wooden spoon over the top of the pan to avoid the water boiling over (you can use the wooden spoon to stir).  If you are cooking vegetables alongside, do these while the pasta is cooking.  Drain the pasta and vegetables.  Plate up and enjoy!  Notes:   Make sure you allow enough time to cook the pasta and vegetables.  Setting a timer for the simmering does wonders – it's very easy to forget you have food on!  If using alternative meats or vegetarian/vegan substitutes, always read package instructions on how to cook. If in doubt, look up a specific vegetarian/vegan recipe.  Pasta is a cupboard staple , so if you tend to eat fusilli, use fusilli in this recipe!   How much does it cost?   Spaghetti Bolognese sounds like it’s an expensive meal, right? Well, let’s have a look.  Using current online prices from Sainsbury’s, we can get a good benchmark for other stores, such as Lidl.  Beef mince — £2.49 for 500g  Onion — £1.10 for 1kg  Garlic — £0.24 for a single bulb  Chopped tomatoes — £0.35p for one 400g tin  Beef stock cubes — £1.00 for 10 stock cubes  Carrot — £0.45p for 1kg  Spaghetti — £0.56p for 1kg   Herbs — £1.10 each for smaller jars. Unless you plan to use a lot of different herbs for different things, mixed herbs are a good choice to keep costs down  Seasoning — £1.25 for a 40g Garlic & Herb seasoning jar, but it will depend on what type of seasoning you choose, if any!  Vegetables—£0.99 for 1kg mixed frozen vegetables. Frozen mixed vegetables are a good way to have a lot of vegetables for less. A packet of frozen vegetables will cost less than fresh vegetables and last longer!    So, in total, one making of Spaghetti Bolognese costs £9.28, including herbs and seasoning. Per serving, that’s roughly £2.32, which is less than a Meal Deal in Sainsbury’s!  Naturally, if you choose to forego herbs, seasonings, and vegetables, it would be cheaper, and you can share the cost with several different shops—mince is slightly less expensive in Lidl than in Sainsbury’s, for example.  With ingredients such as garlic, you will buy slightly more than you need due to how it comes in stores, but that’s okay! Garlic can be used in a lot of recipes and keeps for quite a long time (in good conditions), and if you liked your Spaghetti Bolognese, you could always make it again using the garlic you already have!