my inspiration
I have always loved the thought of a family Sunday dinner. The whole family at home, grandparents visiting, and we all sit down to a delicious homemade meal together. For us, and most families, that rarely happens as our jobs and children’s activities take us all over the place. In a rare instance when we don’t have Sunday activities, I find myself exhausted from chores and trying to catch up from the busy week. But with my boys growing up and one away at college, things are slowing down a bit, and I really cherish our time. I found meals to pull together quickly for that Sunday dinner, and this one here won’t take a lot of prep time and hours of cooking. But it tastes like it did.
what you need
The following recipe will make one saucepan of Bolognese that will generally feed six people. Adjust accordingly. If you are making two side-by-side pans of sauce (one regular and one vegan) then use the following items in each pan. DISCLAIMER – a lot of times I make this sauce as a plant-based version only. Even my meat-eating boys and friends have commented on the richness and good flavor even without real meat. This recipe here just includes the vegan, gluten free version but you can adapt with your favorite real meat and cheese.
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 2 whole peeled carrots
- 1 small yellow onion peeled
- 2 packages of plant-based ground meat product*
- 1 32 ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes undrained
- 1 15 ounce can of tomato sauce (optional)
- red cooking wine
- ½ cup of unsweetened canned coconut milk (optional)
- extra virgin olive oil
- salt and oregano
- grated parmesan cheese*
- chopped fresh basil for topping
- your favorite pasta – I use spaghetti, rigatoni, or penne as they all go well with this sauce*
*tips
- There are so many options for plant-based meat. If someone has a gluten-free diet make sure to read the back of packages. A lot of these plant-based ground meets contain wheat. Cooking over time with these products has been a trial and error. Hands-down, my absolute favorite ground beef product to cook with is Impossible Meat. I use their block of meat all the time and it can now be found in a lot of stores. IMPORTANT- while Impossible ground beef, the burgers, and some sausage are wheat free, their meatballs and some of their chicken products aren’t so please check labels. For this dish I use two packages of the meat. I usually get about three servings from each package. Make sure to set out Impossible Meat to defrost all day before using. The product is great but does not microwave well or cook well frozen.
- For dairy-free cheese my whole family loves Follow Your Heart grated parmesan in a shaker. Tastes just like real cheese and most of the time I use it in both versions.
- Two of my favorite gluten free pastas (because they are not all created equal) are Barilla’s and jovias.
Let’s Adapt
My goal is to help you adapt recipes that might not work for everyone anymore. The recipe here is a quick, easy, delicious sauce, but if you have a favorite family Bolognese sauce, you can use that. And by following the steps, and plant-based and/or gluten-free products I suggest here, you can adapt your meal so you can all enjoy that family favorite sauce together.
Start by defrosting any meat or plant-based meat products you are using. Next, prep your veggies. Mince your garlic cloves and set aside. Next place your peeled carrots and small peeled onion (break into smaller pieces) in a food processor and chop up very small, but do not let them get liquidy. Set aside.
Make generous swirls of olive oil in your heated pan. One of the most-used items in my kitchen is my olive oil dispenser. I rarely ever use exact measurement for olive oil in my cooking, but I do use swirls!
When heated add your minced garlic and sauté. Next, add your meat mixture and break it down until it cooks through. Impossible Meat will cook similarly as ground beef and will turn brown when it’s cooked through. Add your finely chopped carrots and onion to the mixture and sauté until soft. Sprinkle the mixture with garlic powder, salt and dried oregano.
Next, open your can of tomatoes. Add the entire can of whole tomatoes, including the juices. This is the only messy step. Break each whole tomato in your hands and drop into the pan (you don’t want the tomatoes whole). Be careful, they will fight back with some big squirts. I usually do this step in the sink. If you don’t want a really thick sauce, add the optional 15 ounce can of tomato sauce. Mix everything together. At this point you will be able to gauge the thickness of your sauce. Bolognese is a heartier, thicker sauce, but you can add some water to the sauce if needed. Today I only used the can of whole tomatoes for a real meaty thick sauce.
Add about ¼ to ½ cup of red cooking wine and a few sprinkles of parmesan cheese. For a creamier sauce, I add the optional ½ cup of unsweetened canned coconut milk.
Gently stir everything. Time to put the lid on and turn it up to let it start bubbling. Let it bubble for about 10 minutes then turn it back down to low and let it simmer for about 20 minutes with lid on.
While sauce is simmering, boil your salted water and add pasta. When using gluten free pasta I always include two swirls of olive oil in water to keep it from clumping. When pasta is al dente, drain it and turn your sauce off. It’s finally taste testing time – I usually adjust sauce with additional salt and oregano and cheese as needed.
my table
I love to serve pasta meals in a large bowl. For best pasta to sauce ratio, I do layers. Start with half your pasta on the bottom of the bowl. Then cover with 1/3 of the sauce. Add the remaining pasta then cover with remaining sauce. Top with chopped fresh basil and more parmesan cheese.
Only thing left to do is share. Nothing feels more satisfying than setting that bowl heaping with pasta and meaty Bolognese on my table for family to enjoy (equally as satisfying is setting two bowls on my table when I prepare both versions). Serve with your family’s favorite sides. We love a fresh chopped salad with Italian dressing and buttered rolls.
Amore! Your food is always made with love.
