Turkey Bolognese Sauce
Nothing makes me happier than a rich, luxurious bolognese sauce. There is just something so comforting about the rich meaty flavours, intermingled with classic tomato sauce, simmered for hours and lovingly spooned on top of delicious pasta… Are you with me? Yum-o!
This recipe is healthy spin on the classic sauce. I substituted in ground turkey for the traditional beef and snuck in a few more veggies (which really makes my Mom heart happy). This is a go recipe that I love to make in big batches and freeze for quick weeknight dinners. This recipe will easily makes enough for at least two full family meals.
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 3 hours |
| Servings |
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- 2 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 lbs lean ground trukey
- 1 cup diced crimini mushrooms -or any type is a-ok
- 1/2 cup diced carrots
- 1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1/2 cup chopped celery
- 1 cup low sodium chicken broth
- 2 cans tomato sauce - 680 mL
- 1 can tomato paste - 156 mL
- 1/4 cup dry oregano -fresh is also awesome)
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 4 bay leaves
- pinch of salt & pepper
Ingredients
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- In a medium frying pan set on med-high, add the ground turkey and season with a little salt and pepper. As it cooks, break it down and continue stirring stirring until cooked through. Drain and set aside.
- In a large saucepan heated to med-high, add the olive oil. Once heated add in the onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms. Feel free to add in extra veggies, this is the perfect sauce to "hide" them from your kids. They won't even notice.
- Add in the oregano, basil and bay leaves and stir until combined.
- Pour in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until the liquid is absorbed. Were building amazing flavour layers as we go.
- Turn the heat back-up to medium and add back in the ground turkey, along with the tomato sauce tomato paste.
- Give it a good stir and do a taste test to see if you need more herbs, salt or pepper. It is looks good. Once you have it to your liking, reduce the heat for a final time and simmer for at least 30 minutes or all afternoon. Pro tip, the longer you can let it simmer, the richer the flavours will be.
- Do one final taste test to ensure it is seasoned to your liking and serve over your favorite pasta. Bon appetit!
This recipe can easily be adapted for a slow cooker, just brown the meat and then add everything to your trusty crockpot and set to low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours.
Short on time? Break out your Instapot and this recipe can be ready in 20 minutes! Just use the saute setting to brown the meat and then add in the veggies and cook until soft, dump in the rest of the ingredients and set to pressure cook.
Feel free to add in veggies that make your heart happy, I often sneak in chopped zucchini and kale. I have also been adventurous with root veggies and even bokchoy. Feel free to make it your own, there are no wrong answers here... Well maybe a few, but not many, lol!
