Spaghetti Bolognese for 1 person:
125g of minced meat ('hamburger' meat for you yanks)
80g of spaghetti
1 small capsicum
1 small onion
3-5 mushrooms
1 can of pasta sauce (usually have flavourings), or 1 can of diced/crushed tomatoes
Spices - packet of flavouring from supermarket, or fennel seeds, oregano (oreganum), thyme, basil, crushed garlic. If you have no idea how much to put in, just do a 1-2 teaspoons of each.
1. Dice onion into small pieces. Slice mushroom into thin slices. Cut up capsicum into small squares of whatever shape you want.
2. In a pot, brown the mince on the stove. Put oil in the pan first so it doesn't stick - best to use a non-stick pan. Use a wooden spoon or other hard-edge implement to break the meat up. Stir over high heat until brown - no pink/red bits left. This normally takes 3-5 minutes. Optionally drain fat off into the sink and run hot water from the tap (faucet) so the fat doesn't clog up your drain (oops!).
3. Add onion to meat, and brown it - usually takes 1-3 minutes.
4. Put boiling water from kettle in a pot on the stove and keep it boiling, add pasta. The pasta will take 9-12 minutes to cook. Add some salt, and optinally oil (I never bother with oil). After a few minutes, stir to keep the strands separated. Stir occasionally while it cooks.
5. Add mushrooms, capsicum, canned tomatos/pasta sauce and spices into the pot with the meat. Stir everything up and put a lid on it. Gently simmer (turn the heat down on the stove!) and stir occasionally.
When the pasta is ready (check a strand and see if it is soft or still chewy/hard), drain the water and serve on a plate. Put the meat sauce on top.
The good thing about this meal is that you can basically take as long as you want to make it. If you leave the meat cooking for 30-40 minutes, that's fine (as long as it doesn't burn). This means if you haven't cooked your pasta properly because it wasn't hot enough or your completely forgot about it, you can just keep cooking the meat until the pasta is ready, and then serve.
It is a very easy and good meal for beginners, especially if you're not very confident in the kitchen. I normally make it once a week because it is easy. You can experiment and add in other vegetables if you want, sometimes I put in some grated carrot to help bulk it up, you can put in some diced aubergines, celery that has been diced up finely, add some extra wine for flavouring (hmm, I should do this sometime soon). You can add grated cheese on top as a garnish at the end. My parents like to cook up some frozen peas and serve that alongside (not inside) as well.
None.