The Corporate Cookbook

About This Recipe:

Spaghetti bolognese is an uncomplicated, yet time intensive dish. It consists of everyday ingredients and techniques, but really needs to simmer away for at least two hours to achieve the depth and richness associated with a good bolognese. The red wine and milk give the meat and vegetables amazing flavor, and nearly completely reduce to leave you with the thickest sauce.

Since I do not eat beef, I decided to make this bolognese sauce with ground turkey instead (ground pork or chicken would also be great.) I added in extra quantities of celery and carrots just to get more vegetables into this dish. You can definitely also reduce it to half a cup of each. Don’t let the long simmer time scare you off- it’s worth the time if you have it, and the actual cooking process is very simple!

Enjoy!

Ingredients (4- 6 servings)

-1 lb ground turkey
-1 large onion, finely diced
-1 cup celery, finely diced
-1 cup carrots, finely diced
-6 cloves garlic, minced
-2 tbls tomato paste
-1 tsp dried oregano
-1 tsp dried basil
-1 cup red wine
-1 cup milk
-28 oz canned whole tomatoes
-1 lb spaghetti
–Optional: Parmesan cheese
-Olive oil
-Salt and pepper

Instructions (3 hours)

1. In a large pot over medium high heat, brown the ground turkey and cook through for 5-6 minutes, breaking it up into small bits. Season with salt and pepper, and transfer to a bowl.
2. In the pot, sauté the onions, celery, and carrots for 7 minutes until softened. Then add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
3. Stir in the tomato paste, oregano, and basil, and concentrate for 5 minutes.
4. Pour in the red wine and cook for 10 minutes until it has almost completely reduced.
5. Add in the milk and tomatoes (you can crush them in your hands,) and simmer on low heat for at least 2 hours until the sauce has thickened and the tomatoes have broken down. I let it simmer with the lid on for the first hour, and then remove the lid for the second hour.
6. Once the sauce is almost ready, bring water to a boil in a large pot and cook the spaghetti. Then toss the spaghetti with the sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.