Light Bolognese Sauce

It has been awhile since I have posted on my food blog. I promise to be much more faithful now that the spring semester is over and I have the summer to concentrate on my blog. Today’s recipe for Light Bolognese Sauce is for those family members and friends who are cooking light or have food sensitivities, but long to eat the traditional foods they remember from their mother and grandmother. Here is a simple but still traditional bolognese sauce that has less fat and contains only safe fodmap foods.

For fodmap people told to avoid garlic, you should know that you can slice your garlic and  stir it around in hot oil until the oil is infused with its flavor, and then take it out. This will still give the food the lovely taste of garlic without the actual properties from the garlic.For those cooking light, I substituted ground turkey for ground beef to make my recipe a truly light bolognese sauce.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey

1 large can of San Marzano imported Italian tomatoes

1 bunch of fresh Basil

2 peeled garlic cloves cut into large chunks or slices

1 tsp of tuscan dried herbs or a pinch of dried basil and thyme

Handful of Fresh basil shredded

Salt and pepper to taste

2  to 4 Tbsp of mild olive oil (I use Filippo Berrio)

1/2 or 1 whole sweet red or orange pepper, diced

2 medium carrots, peeled and diced

1/2 medium zucchini, peeled and diced (optional)

2 to 4 Tbsp tomato paste

1 cup of bold red wine (I use Bolla)

1 boullion cube chicken stock or 1/2 cup chicken stock (optional) (FODMAP says garlic/onion free)

Directions:

In a large heavy skillet or dutch oven on medium high heat,  heat 2 tbsp olive oil until hot and shimmering. Throw in the garlic and stir around with a wooden spoon or spatula until oil is infused with garlic flavor. Remove the garlic and next,throw in the ground turkey. By substituting ground turkey, this light Bolognese sauce contains far fewer calories than with ground beef. At first, don’t stir and let it brown a bit. Then stir it around, breaking it up with a spoon or spatula. Add more oil if it is steaming and not browning and keep the heat high to keep it browning and not steaming.

When the meat is browned, remove it from the pan using a slotted spoon. Add in the diced carrots, peppers and zucchini (if using) into the hot oil. Can add more oil if veggies are sticking too much. Stir them around until they soften a bit and seem limpish.

Stir in the tomato paste until all the veggies are coated. Add 1/2 can of water and stir until everything is coated with the paste and water emulsion. Try to use a big wooden spoon to stir rather than a metal one, which crushes the food too much.

Add the wine and keep stirring until mixture returns to a boil. Add in the can of Italian San Marzano tomatoes that you have whirled in a blender until no chunks are in them. Stir the tomato mixture until it returns to a boil.

Add the meat back in  and keep stirring and cooking the mixture for another two or three minutes. If you are using a dutch oven, now is the time to turn the heat down to simmer, put a top on the dutch oven, and set the timer for an hour.

If you want to use your slow cooker, this is what I do at this point. I pour the mixture into my slow cooker. Then, I set my slow cooker for three hours and set it on “low.” I check it in an hour and if it is boiling too much, I change the setting to “simmer.” My slow cooker seems to have a rather fast “low” setting.

The sauce is done when it has thickened somewhat, and all the veggies are cooked well, but are not mushy.

For those who need to keep their pasta gluten free, I have found a very nice brown rice pasta that I use with this sauce. I serve the sauce on my pasta and cover generously with reggiano parmegiano cheese. This dish is delicious, comforting and guaranteed not to cause those with food sensitivities any discomfort, or add on the pounds for those trying to cook lighter.