It's Saucy Saturday! And Today's Recipe is.... Healthy Bolognese

Hey everyone!

​I plan to start posting sauce recipes on the blog on Saturdays. Today's recipe is one I am particularly known for. I obtained the base of the recipe from a previous boss and have adapted it. 

Variations: When I make this dish for my family I use equal parts: spicy italian turkey sausage, ground beef, and ground veal.  I also love adding a 1/3 of a cup cream or half and half at the end of the recipe to make for a richer sauce. 

                   Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 carrots, finely chopped
• 2 celery sticks, finely chopped
• 1 yellow onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cans tomato paste
• 1 cup red wine
• 1 pound grass-fed ground beef
• 1 (32-ounce) can whole tomatos
• 3 cups baby spinach, chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, optional, if you like spice
• 12 ounces whole wheat spaghetti, follow directions on packaging - I also really love pappardelle pasta, it's thicker and holds the sauce very well
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan, optional
• handful of fresh basil leaves
• Cracked black pepper and additional salt to taste

Preparation: Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon of salt and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are soft but not brown, about 5 minutes. Push the vegetables to the side and add both cans of tomato paste, turn heat up to high and let tomato paste brown for about 2 minutes. Next add red wine and tomatoes and drop heat to medium low, stir mixture together, cover and cook for 20 minutes. 

In a separate pan add ground meat and cook until lightly brown, drain fat and add to sauce mixture. Once sauce has cooked for the above additional 20 minutes and meat has been added, stir in spinach, dried basil, and red pepper flakes. 

Add the beef and cook until lightly browned, stirring frequently while breaking up the meat into bite size pieces, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes (along with their juices), spinach, basil, red pepper flakes, if using, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt.

Bring to a simmer and cook uncovered, stirring occasionally and breaking up the tomatoes with a wooden spoon, until the sauce thickens, another 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook the pasta according to the package directions. 

Taste the sauce and add more salt and red pepper OR cracked black pepper if needed. Ladle generously over the pasta and top with Parmesan and fresh basil, if desired.
 
Enjoy, please comment below if you try the recipe with any feedback or LOVE!