Courgetti Bolognese

Preparation: 15 minutes

Cooking Time: 2 hours 45 minutes

Everyone loves Spaghetti Bolognese. It is a staple dinner in houses all across the world, and everyone always looks forward to spaghetti night. This is a twist on the classic, that is not only super tasty, but so much healthier. By Replacing the spaghetti with courgettes your not only getting more vegetable goodness, but it cuts the carbs almost completely out of the meal. This is one to try for sure.

Ingredients:

800g Lean Minced Beef

2 Tins Chopped Tomatoes

1 Red Pepper

1 Green Pepper

1 Large Carrot

2 Large Celery Sticks

1 Red Onion 

3 Garlic Cloves
2 Bay Leaves

1 tbsp Smoked Paprika

1 tbsp Oregano

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper

Handful of Fresh Basil + Parsley
50g Tomato Puree

200ml Red Wine

2 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil 

1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce 

1 Courgette (per person)

Sea Salt + Cracked Black Pepper
Optional: 75g Spaghetti (per person)

Method:

For the sauce:

Get a large heavy bottomed pan on a medium heat with some olive oil. Chop the onions and garlic, get them straight in the pan and sweat them for 5 or 6 minutes. While these are sweating, chop the carrot and celery finely and add them to the pot next. Get a lid on the pot and allow them to sweat for a further 6 minutes, checking every so often that nothing is burning. 

Make a well in the center of the pot and add the mince into the middle of the pan. Break the meat up with a wooden spoon, or a whisk, while stirring the meat around. We want to get a nice brown colour on the meat which should take about 5 minutes, before adding a splash of Worcestershire sauce and a glass of wine to the meat mixture. 

After about a minute the alcohol should be evaporated from the pot leaving behind a lovely sweet smelling mixture to which you should add the tomatoes and the puree. To clean the leftover juice from the tins, fill 3 quarters of one with water, and swap between the tins until both are clean. Add this to the sauce.

Chop the peppers into equal sized pieces and add them straight in. Add finely chopped parsley, ripped basil and all your dried herbs and spices, along with a good pinch of sea salt and cracked black pepper. Let this simmer on a low heat with a lid on for 2 hours and 30 minutes.

For the Courgetti:

Use a tool that gives you long strands of courgette in the style of spaghetti. In the last 10 minutes that the sauce is simmering, steam the courgettes at a high heat. You want tender, piping hot courgette but you don't want it to get soft so check after 5 minutes as every pot and cooker is different. This shouldn't take longer than 8 - 10 minutes. When it is ready, take it off the heat and season it with a good pinch of sea salt and cracked black pepper. 

This should easily serve between 4 - 6 people. It is such a nice, different way to eat this meal, and with a couple of simple tweaks can be made gluten free.