Quick and Easy Sunday Bolognese

This is just as delicious as those simmer-all-day-long sauces, but in a fraction of the time thanks to the help of a high quality store-bought sauce!

You can really make this recipe your own depending on how plant-forward or meat-forward you choose to eat.

The key for me is the vino. That's what takes this from "just another sauce" to "hot dam* this is good"!

I also tried a little secret technique to get the veggies to disappear and just meld into the sauce. That's not so I can "HIDE" veggies for my kids as I don't believe in that. Instead, its to keep the consistency and texture of the dish.

Bon Appetit!

Ingredients:

• 1 9oz container of mushrooms, minced

• 2 Tbsp EVOO

• 1 cup carrots, roughly chopped

• 1 cup celery, roughly chopped

• 1 cup sweet onion, roughly chopped

• 1 lb ground chicken (traditional Bolognese calls for ground beef, so you can use that, ground chicken, ground turkey, or even crumbled extra firm tofu)

• 1 lb ground pork (same as above)

• 1 32 oz jar store-bought marinara (I love Michael's of Brooklyn)

• 1 can tomato sauce

• 1/2 cup heavy cream (optional)

• 1 cup good red wine (we order our from an amazing winery in Washington State called Pondera Winery)

• salt to taste

• 1-2 lb wide pasta noodles, such as pappardelle or tagliatelle

• Parmesan cheese to taste

Directions:

• In a large saucepan cook mushrooms until browned on medium high heat, about 5-10 minutes. Remove from pan and set aside.

• Add EVOO, carrots, celery, and onions and sauté until they're just tender, about 3 minutes. Remove from pan, pulse in food process for 10-15 seconds, then return to pan along with mushrooms and both meats of choice.

• Cook until browned, breaking up the meat as you stir.

• Pour in jar of store-bought marinara sauce and tomato sauce and simmer.

• After about 10 minutes pour in 1/2 cup of wine. Let simmer for about 10 minutes and pour in second 1/2 cup of wine. Let simmer for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens.

• Optional: When the sauce has reached your desired consistency, stir in the heavy cream.

• Remove from heat, and serve over your favorite pasta—we like to use pappardelle or tagliatelle—and top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Compliments to The Modern Proper for the recipe inspo!