Recipe: Easy Bolognese Sauce

Pasta is comfort food as far as I am concerned. Plus, it’s easy to make a healthy, filling meal out of it and it freezes beautifully for meal prep. The problem with most pre-made pasta sauces is that they are loaded with sodium and all kinds of preservatives.

I love making my own pasta sauce. I can control the amount of sodium, I can choose to use a better kind of salt (sea salt or Himalayan salt), and I can load it with veggies. This recipe has carrots and squash added into the sauce for that extra boost of veggie goodness. One of my favorite things about pasta is that you can double or triple the recipe then portion it out and freeze it. I normally make up about 10 servings worth, portion it up and throw them in the deep freeze. Then we can pull them out whenever we need a quick meal. This also helps with the “I don’t feel like cooking” nights so that they don’t turn into “let’s eat like crap” nights.

You can swap up the meat (I generally use lean ground beef or ground turkey), or you can leave the meat out altogether. This would be amazing with some grilled eggplant or portobello on on top! You can also use whatever pasta you prefer (I’ve been using brown rice pasta lately, but any whole wheat pasta is a great choice).

For dinner, I serve this up with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and a fresh side salad with homemade vinaigrette.

If you make this, let me know what you think of it in the comments!

Easy Bolognese Sauce

Created by on April 19, 2017

For me, pasta is a easy go-to when I need a quick meal for the family. We always have whole wheat or brown rice pasta hanging out in the pantry. Plus, I can sneak in all kinds of veggies to the sauce and nobody’s the wiser! Add your favorite pasta, or you could use spaghetti […]

  • Prep Time: 10h
  • Cook Time: 20h
  • Total Time: 30h

Ingredients

  • 10 ounces lean ground meat
  • 8 ounces canned tomato sauce (low sodium)
  • 3 cloves, garlic
  • 1 small squash (I prefer crookneck squash)
  • 1 large carrot
  • 1 shallot

Instructions

  1. Wash and dry produce.
  2. Peel and finely chop the garlic.
  3. Peel and small dice the carrot.
  4. Cut off stem end of squash and grate (or chop finely in food processor).
  5. Peel and medium dice the shallot.
  6. In a pot, heat a drizzle of olive oil on medium until hot.
  7. Add garlic, shallot, carrot and squash; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently 4-6 minutes, until carrots are slightly softened.
  8. Add ground meat; season with salt and pepper. As the meat cooks, break apart with a spoon. Cook until browned and cooked through.
  9. Add the tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of water. Cook, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pan, 6-8 minutes or until sauce has thickened a bit. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

 

 

 

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