Spaghetti Bolognese
This is my happy place. A bowl of steaming hot pasta tangled with a beautifully rich and smooth bolognese sauce exploding with so much flavour you’ll be dipping and licking the sauce directly from the wooden spoon before it hits the pasta!
So thick and creamy — our go-to spaghetti sauce.You could have this with any pasta, like Lasagna or over Cannelloni.
With a hint of red wine, oregano and parsley, plus added cream to to give the sauce a smooth and creamy texture. The smells coming out of this bubbling garlic infused tomato richness draws everyone out of their rooms to find out exactly what is going down for dinner.
And the sauce being nice and healthy with the grated carrots and zucchini, which by the way gives it a beautiful slightly sweet flavour, adds about two extra bonuses that kids have absolutely no idea there’s some health benefits in here.
Spaghetti Bolognese
Weight Watchers: 15pp per serve (out of 5 serves)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 large onion , chopped
- 2 garlic cloves , crushed
- 2 carrots , grated
- 1 zucchini , grated
- 500 g | 1lbs extra lean minced beef
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 80 ml red wine (optional)
- 1 x 700g | 24oz bottle Passata Cooking Sauce
- 2 teaspoons vegetable stock powder (or salt to season - adjust to your tastes)
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 3 tablespoons low fat cream for cooking (or low fat milk)
- Handful of freshly chopped parsley
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese , to serve
- 1 x 500g | 1lbs packet spaghetti
- Salt for the pasta cooking water
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan; add the onions, garlic, carrots and zucchini. Fry until vegetables are soft and fragrant (about 3 minutes). Add the beef and fry until browned. Add the tomato paste; pour in the wine and boil until it has reduced and thickened. Reduce heat and stir in the Passata, vegetable stock powder (or salt), and oregano.
- Cover pan with a lid and simmer until the sauce has thickened, stirring occasionally (about 20-30 minutes). Turn off heat; add the cooking cream (or milk) and stir until combined.
- Cook the spaghetti in a pot of boiling salted water. Drain; add 2 ladlefuls of the sauce and mix until pasta is covered. Divide between 6 serving dishes; top with extra sauce and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and parsley.
Nutrition
Abby says
Simple but very delicious. I usually add tonnes of extras to my Bolognese like bacon, Worcestershire sauce, cinnamon but this didn’t need anything extra. I used extra garlic and had run out of courgette but otherwise did the recipe as it says.
Michelle M Gutierrez says
THIA WAS SOME REALLY TASTY BOLOGNESE!I had been craving bolognese and this really hit the spot. I made some minor adjustments due to the pandemic—frozen white pearl onions that i roughly chopped and a jar of pre-made sauce with minimal ingredients added. Oh, I also added some celery. Thanks for sharing 🙂
Dawn says
What is Passata cooking sauce used in this recipe. I’m from south Louisiana I’ve never heard of this. Is this just regular pasta sauce?
Karina says
Hi Dawn! Passata I believe is called tomato sauce in the States. You could also use a plain regular pasta sauce or marinara sauce. I’m sorry for the confusion!
Sara says
Can this be put in the freezer?