Spaghetti Bolognase
A real family classic. I've added some grated carrot, courgette and spinach into the sauce to add some extra veg, and swapped beef for the more eco-friendly pork. Still bound to go down well with the kids, especially if you blend the veg in 🙂
Equipment
- Large saucepan
Ingredients
- 1.5 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 260 g wholewheat spaghetti
- 2 cloves garlic (peeled and crushed)
- 2 onion (peeled and chopped)
- 200 g pork mince
- 2 large carrot (peeled and grated)
- 1 courgette (grated (if it's in season))
- 150 g spinach (roughly chopped)
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 300 ml tomato passata
- 1 beef flavoured stock cube
- 0.25 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp basil
- 2 tsp oregano
- 4 tbsp parmesan (grated)
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large pan.
- Put the spaghetti on to cook as per the packet instructions (around 20 mins).
- Add the garlic and onion and fry for around 5 mins or until soft.
- Add the pork mince and fry until browned.
- Add the carrot, courgette and spinach if it is not baby spinach.
- After a couple of mins, add the chopped tomatoes, stock cube and tomato passata (add the baby spinach here too).
- Cook for a further 5 mins and then add the pepper, basil and oregano to taste.
- Serve with the sauce over the pasta and a sprinkling of grated parmesan.
Notes
Prep Tips:
For fussier children, canned leaf spinach has a very soft texture and is in small pieces, so it's quick to prepare and hard for anyone to complain about (except that you can see it!).
You can cook the meat separately to the veg, and then blend the sauce if you have people who will complain about the bits of veg added. Blitzed with the tomatoes they are very unlikely to notice!
Bolognase is the sort of meal that freezes really well, and the pork ince often comes in 4-500g packets, so make a double batch and then you've got an easy dinner to rummage from the freezer on those days when things get out of control!
Health Tips:
Despite the pasta, this meal comes out pretty low in the GL scale! The parmesan and meat both slow the breakdown of the sugars down (as do the fibres in the veg), so you get a steadier flow of sugar to your blood.
Eco Tips:
I've only used about half the meat normally added to a bolognase here, and this meal is still a little high in protein! Which shows how many of us are getting more protein than we need... Given that proteins are probably our least sustainable macro, any reduction is going to help!
NUTRITION: Amount and (% RDA)
Calories: 532kcal (27%)Carbohydrates: 73g (24%)Protein: 25g (50%)Fat: 19g (29%)Saturated Fat: 6g (38%)Trans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 39mg (13%)Sodium: 584mg (25%)Potassium: 1381mg (39%)Fiber: 6g (25%)Sugar: 12g (13%)Vitamin A: 10197IU (204%)Vitamin B1: 1mg (67%)Vitamin B2: 1mg (59%)Vitamin B3: 8mg (40%)Vitamin B5: 2mg (20%)Vitamin B6: 1mg (50%)Vitamin B12: 1µg (17%)Vitamin C: 44mg (53%)Vitamin D: 1µg (7%)Vitamin E: 4mg (27%)Vitamin K: 213µg (203%)Calcium: 239mg (24%)Copper: 1mg (50%)Folate: 163µg (41%)Iron: 7mg (39%)Manganese: 3mg (150%)Magnesium: 189mg (47%)Phosphorus: 413mg (41%)Selenium: 63µg (90%)Zinc: 4mg (27%)
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