I have developed a healthy appreciation of Kenwood across the years but frankly wasn't expecting a great deal from the Mini Chopper. I'd seen the equivalent before. Hell, I've wasted money on the equivalent before and been thoroughly peeved by the results.

However, it was a Thursday night, I had a lovely red wine to enjoy and friends to cook for - friends used to my "I'm trialling a gadget" cooking...

So, back to the Mini-Chopper. Devices of this kind invariably invite you to pop in your herbs, nuts, whatever and press button and watch the lot get chopped into lovely small pieces. Except they never work. Everything sinks to the bottom, well beneath the blades and you spend more time detaching the bowl, shaking it for a 5 sec pulse before the lot is stuck at the bottom again. Can you hear the frustration?!

I decided to cook up the Hamilton Bolognaise (a rip-off of Jamie Olivers "Kinda Spaghetti Bolognaise" - of whom I am a huge fan - Hamilton recipe published below)

First test for the Mini Chopper would be the leaves of fresh Rosemary. Ha!
I prepared myself to be both annoyed and disappointed. I stripped the bunches of leaves from the main stalks and threw a handful into the dinky little chopper...

A quiet, unobtrusive buzz...

I'll be damned but it worked!

I don't know how but something about the design of the Mini Chopper ensured nothing got caught on the base under the blades. I had so much fun I almost over chopped the Rosemary. Next it was 4 cloves of garlic - fresh, sticky bits that surely would stick? Nope. Ok, try an onion (not listed as an acceptable product!) I chopped a huge onion into 6 pieces and popped three sections in at a time. Ta-dah - faultless and the only tears from me were ones of joy!

There's two niggles - which I must mention before I get rose-tinted glasses. The inside of the compartment is slightly ridged so it's pesky to get the last bits of any wet foodstuffs out and replacing / fitting of the "bowl" is a right fidget. Yet I am splitting hairs in all honesty. I want one! How did I ever live without one? How I am ever going to walk into my kitchen from this moment forth without one? Seriously!

Which reminds me - the price: In the region of ... less than £20
Techie stuff here.

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Hamilton Bolognaise - Dedicated to Neil M.
Serves 4 (hungry buggers)
Don't freak -this recipe is disgustingly simple and tastes amazing!

Ingredients
Olive oil.
500g mince beef (lean is good)
10 strips of Panchetta (standard packet in Waitrose)
3 - 4 cloves of garlic ***
1 mother of an onion. ***
Fresh basil - half a handful. ***
Romantic Rosemary - fresh and a good handful. ***
Salt and Pepper.
1 teaspoon of dried oregano.
6 - 8 good sized mushrooms (chopped)
10 fresh tomatoes (chopped)
An entire whatchamacallit of tomato puree (200g)
A generous measure of red wine (that'll be a large glass, ta)
Parmesan and / or grated cheddar cheese - a good sprinkle of the P'; and handful of the C' per serving
Fresh / packet spaghetti - did you know fresh spag' is SO much easier to cook?

*** = Chuck in Kenwood Mini Chopper

Cooking equipment
• Wok/ Frying pan (large) / Saucepan - any will do but my preference is a wok.
• Kenwood Mini Chopper or a chopping board, knife and stamina :-P
• Something to stir with.
• Wine glass and supplies of red wine (dinner's always better with a few ;-) )

What to do
• Chop up the Panchetta into bits (ie. Poker chip / 50p piece pieces)
• Strip the Rosemary leaves from the stalks and chop up roughly. ***
• Heat a small amount of oil in Wok (medium heat) and chuck Panchetta and Rosemary in. Great smell, huh?!
• Dice the onion*** and finely chop the garlic*** and then chuck that in.
• Give it 5 minutes and a stir every now and again.
• Whallop in all the mince and for gawds sake break it up - lumps are not good! Let loose with a spatula and mash it up a bit as it browns.
• Once mince is browned, throw in tomatoes, mushrooms, teaspoon of oregano and the entire tube / jar of tomato puree.
• Pour a generous measure of red wine (my glasses tend to hold half a bottle at a time - perhaps slightly excessive for this recipe and if the same, treat yourself to a slip / slug first.) - add to simmering mix.
• Add in a little salt and pepper - more for artist flair if you have an audience than any real necessity. Sprinkle, sprinkle and all that.
• Good. Turn the heat right down and chill out for 25 minutes or so but look professional and give it an occasional stir and sniff in deeply as though you know what you're doing. Wicked.
• After 25 minutes, heat up a pan of water and cook spaghetti as per instructions (which are usually horribly useless so taste as you go along!)
• Set the table - remember fork, knife and spoon (some folks like to wrap the spaghetti around a fork and a spoon is both acceptable and helpful!)
• Rip up a couple of basil leaves*** and drop nonchalantly into Wok with a quick stir. Fab! Nice touch.
• Plop grated cheese on a plate and chuck on table within reach. If the Parmesan isn't grated, get to it and plop a bit of that in a bowl for people to help themselves to.
• Strain spaghetti, stir in a small dollop of butter.

Voila, you are ready to serve dinner. Dead yummy and stupidly simple - particularly if you've the Kenwood Mini Chopper *smug*