Bolognese for the Whole Family
I must admit, I had to google what bolognese actually was. With our upcoming trip to Europe and Italy being the first stop I have been attempting to expand my palate. Italian food is so easy to modify for the PKU diet because a large portion of my meals have low protein pasta as a base. I am constantly on the prowl for new and different flavors and bolognese seemed intriguing.
By educating myself through the world wide web I found that bolognese sauce originates from Bologna, Italy. It generally consists of ground meats, spices, and wine (all Italian recipes are better with wine). However, if you mince a ton of different types of veggies they provide the hearty texture that serves as an excellent substitute for ground meat.
Check out all the fresh veggies:
This is a great recipe for the crock pot but you can also cook it over the stove to speed up the process. It is also super easy to modify for the whole family. Make the veggie sauce and mix half with your favorite ground meat (more or less depending on your family needs). Currently, my family needs are one and he likes more meat than veggies. I usually sneak enough sauce in with ground turkey to satisfy the daily recommended veggie consumption for Nick. He doesn't even notice. Win, Win.
Also a win: the ground chickpea fusilli I served his meat sauce over. He did not even notice the difference from traditional pasta. This is the best high protein, "healthy" pasta I have experimented with for him. He is so jealous of our low pro pasta. Imagine that? All he wants to eat is our low pro starchy pasta and I dream of high-protein vegan products. Ironic, but definitely makes me feel better about my food options.
My favorite ground turkey is linked here. He goes crazy over this stuff! I buy their sausages, turkey patties, and turkey cutlets. No need for beef in this household.
The best part of this bolognese is how easy this is to prepare. Throw all the veggies into your food processor. Add tomatoes. Dump everything into crock pot and turn on.
Now, relax and enjoy a glass of wine.
I have actually been avoiding posting this recipe because all I had on hand to garnish with was Cambrooke's Cheddar Shreds. I thought I had Follow Your Heart vegan parmesan but found once I went to serve that I had already used it up. Let's be real though, all of Cambrooke's various cheeses taste exactly the same. So I would recommend this vegan parmesan if you have not tried it. It is so good and really low coming in at only 13 mg of phe per serving.
Recipe:
1/2 head cauliflower
8 ounce container of mushrooms
2 cups shredded carrots
2 cups eggplant chunks
2 (28 ounce) cans crushed tomatoes
6 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic
.33 cup red wine
1.5 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon chopped, fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
Sauté garlic in butter and olive oil until fragrant. Add to bottom of crockpot. Mince cauliflower, mushrooms, eggplant, and carrots in food processor. Add to crockpot. Add sugar, balsamic, spices, and wine. Cook on low for 8 to 9 hours or high for four to five hours. I omitted tomato paste just to save a few extra phe. For the last hour I left the lid partially cracked and it thickened nicely.
Once bolognese cooks, boil two pots of water for low pro and regular pasta of choice. I always salt the water as it seems to add nice flavor to the low protein pasta. Add olive oil to water to prevent from pasta sticking together. Add noodles to water and let them cook for 8-10 minutes.
While noodles are cooking, add turkey meat to hot skillet. Season with salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning. Separate with metal spatula and let cook. When it is ready mix in as much (or as little) of the bolognese sauce. I added about two cups to 1.3 pounds of turkey meat. It seemed like a good combination and Nick loved it.
Once pasta is drained and ready, top with bolognese sauce of choice (low pro or high pro). Top with chopped basil and parmesan or cheese of choice. Enjoy with a glass of wine ;-)