Bolognese Sauce

The following recipe is courtesy of Yes to Yummy. I usually double this recipes as it freezes very well. Feel free to use less ground beef to stretch your grocery budget or omit the bacon although it adds excellent flavor. This is very filling with the spaghetti squash so I find I only eat about a cup of the sauce plus a small serving of spaghetti squash. It is one of David's favorite meals. 

To roast a spaghetti squash, slice it in half, scoop out seeds and place open side down in a 9x13 pan with about an inch of water. Cooked about an hour at 350 until flesh scoops out easily. I call this "noodles" and my kids love its soft texture and mild sweet flavor. 

Ingredients

Prep Time 15-20 min
Cooking Time 1 hr 15 min
Total Time 1 hr 25 min
Yield 6-8 servings

2 tablespoons of ghee, butter, or coconut oil

2 chopped onions

3 chopped carrots

3 chopped celery stalks

A pinch of salt

4 cloves of minced garlic

1 tablespoon of dried oregano

1 tablespoon of dried basil

1/4 lb sliced and diced speck (can be substituted with prosciutto or bacon)

2 lb ground beef or ground turkey. A combination of both works well. 

3/4 cup of red wine or beef broth

3/4 cup of coconut milk

12 ounces of tomato paste (I love Muir Glen Organic for all my canned tomatoes) 

3 bay leaves

Directions

In a large pot or dutch oven, melt the ghee, butter, or coconut oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is glistening, add the onions, carrots, and celery stalks. Sprinkle with a pinch of salt, then saute until translucent and beginning to soften, about 7 to 8 minutes. It the veggies start browning, turn the heat down and add a little more salt so they’ll release some more water. This process is called sweating. 

To the softened veggies, add the minced garlic, dried oregano, and dried basil, and saute for one or two minutes longer. Then, add in the sliced and diced speck.

After the speck has been hanging out with the veggies for a few minutes, crumble in the ground pork and ground veal. Saute until the meat is no longer pink, about 5 minutes, then add in the red wine, coconut milk,  tomato paste, and bay leaves.

Stir to combine, bring to a boil, and turn the heat down to low. Let cook with the lid on until thickened, about an hour. After the hour mark, reduce the heat to a simmer and let cook until you’re ready to serve over spaghetti squash or roasted root vegetable puree.

- See more at: http://yestoyummy.com/recipe/bolognese-sauce/#sthash.HORi1OXf.dpuf