Hello!

Hope that you have had a lovely Christmas and school holiday break. We had a wonderful time – 5 weeks with our families, split between a remote caravan park, a beach house and my family home in Perth.

While it was delightful being away, the kids ate more packaged foods and treats than they would normally have so I have been finding it difficult to get them back into their normal healthy eating routine – especially with Harry and vegetables.

So when I made spag bol the other night, instead of just grating in the veggies like I normally do, I then blitzed them in the food processor before adding them to the meat which made a really nice thick sauce … without obvious pieces of ‘pooey vegetables’ (my lovely 2 year old!). Harry was so excited to see how much ‘meat’ he had on his spaghetti that he practically inhaled the bowlful – win for Mummy!!

See below the recipe for a link to our meat free bolognese.

• 500g beef mince
• 1 finely chopped brown onion
• 2 tbspn garlic olive oil
• 1-2 tsp minced chillies
• 1 large carrots
• 1 large zucchini
• 1 tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 tin lentils, drained and rinsed
• 10  button mushrooms
• Fist sized piece of sweet potato or pumpkin
• 2 large handfuls spinach
• 1 large tin crushed tomatoes
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/4 cup red wine
• 1 cup beef stock (or a home made gravy)
• fresh basil
• gluten-free spaghetti

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, then add the onion and stir until soft.

Add the mince and break it into small pieces as it browns, add the tomatoes, paste, red wine and stock. Mix well and turn down to low heat. Add in the lentils.

Meanwhile, in the food processor blitz or grate the vegetables, spinach, beans and mushrooms. Process more or less depending on how smooth you want your sauce.

Add the veggie mix to the meat mix in the pan and stir well. Bring to a very gentle simmer for about half an hour, stirring regularly.

Serve on gluten-free spaghetti or a bed of steamed green beans – add cheese of choice to top if you like.

This made a very large batch – enough for 3 meals for all of our family. The Bolognese freezes and thaws well.

Enjoy 🙂

If you are a fan of bolognese, but you’d like a meat free option, check out our yummy mushroom and lentil bolognese.

Add in a few tablespoons of tomato confit for a flavour boost too.