Recipe: Veg-Packed Bolognese Sauce

Bolognese is one of those absolute classic dishes that makes you feel all cosy and at-home no matter what. There’s just something about a meaty, rich sauce and a plateful of pasta that just makes any day better.

I wanted to make a Bolognese sauce that would do all this, but was also a little lower-calorie, seeing as I’m trying to eat a little more healthily and stick to my own healthy-eating plan (for more on this, see my “Losing over 2 stone in 5 months” post) So I played around with the recipe and made this healthy veg-packed Bolognese; the extra veg fills out the sauce so you can have more of it for fewer calories, without losing the meaty rich flavour – an absolute winner, right?!

I’ve made this at home several times, and not only has it fit with my plan, but M hasn’t compained either – so it really does work for everyone!

Serves: 4
Calories per portion: 260 (plus 75g uncooked pasta – 560)

What You Need:

• Large Frying Pan
• 1 Rich Beef Knorr Stock Pot or similar
• 500g 5% fat lean beef mince
• 200g peeled Carrot, finely chopped
• 200g Courgette, finely chopped
• 1 Small Red Onion, finely diced
• 2 tins Chopped Tomatoes
• 1.5 Cloves Garlic, chopped or 1 heaped tsp chopped garlic (I use the Very Lazy stuff, because I am Very Lazy!)

How To Do It:

1. Fry the Diced Onion with the Beef Mince and Garlic until the mince is completely browned.
2. Add the chopped Carrots and Courgette. Mix well and fry on a medium heat for 3-4 mins.
3. Add the tinned chopped tomatoes and the stock pot and mix well.
4. Season with Salt, Pepper & Italian Herbs
5. Simmer for 15 minutes, adding some water if it becomes a little dry.
6. Divide the sauce into 4. I tend to put two portions into zip-lock bags and pop them in the freezer for one of those days when I really can’t be arsed cooking, and then I cook up pasta for two (75g uncooked pasta per person) and we have the remaining two portions freshly made.
7. Enjoy!

The sauce can be frozen and then re-heated from frozen when required (just whack it in the microwave for about 8 mins) or can be kept in the fridge for up to 5 days.