Spicy Szechuan Noodles

(Aka ‘Chinese spaghetti bolognaise’)

I love these plump white noodles — the contrasting textures of the boiled noodles, minced meat and crisp cucumber are amazing. Although the noodles actually come from Shanghai, the sauce is definitely Szechuanese, so I let the peppercorns and the chilli oil prevail in the naming. And if Marco Polo really did take pasta back to Italy from China, then perhaps he got the inspiration for bolognaise sauce from the east as well . . .