Recipe: Supercharged Bolognese

This Supercharged Bolognese might look like a regular Bolognese but it’s got a secret ingredient to make it extra nutritious: Feather and Bone’s organic beef mince with organs. You can use your own mince + organ meat blend, of course.

Flavour comes, mostly, from the speck (also from Feather and Bone – you can use bacon instead), classic soffritto veggies (onion, garlic, celery and carrot) and red wine (you can use beef broth instead). The other flavour booster most Bolognese recipes don’t include is dried porcini, which adds to the umaminess of the dish. In Perú, ragú-style dishes are always made with dried mushrooms because they are included by default in the bay leaves bags that can be found at the herbs & spices section of the supermarket (this is called hongos y laurel). Finding dried mushrooms can be a bit more challenging in Australia but not impossible! – they’re available in most superkmarkets (and certainly specialty food stores), you just need to be patient to find them.

Most people serve Bolognese with spaghetti, but I prefer to serve it with vegetables for extra nutrition. I served them on top of sautéed Russian kale.

Other suggestions include:

• Higher carb:
  • roasted root vegetables, such as sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, parsnips, swedes, celeriac, pumpkin
  • vegetable “noodles” made from parsnip, celeriac, sweet potato, pumpkin
  • mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, parsnips, celeriac, swedes or a combination
  • polenta
  • pulse pasta
  • rice, quinoa or a combination (pro tip: add lupin flakes for extra fibre and protein)
• Lower carb:
  • roasted or steamed broccoli and/or cauliflower
  • sautéed kale or cabbage
  • roasted Brussel sprouts
  • roasted zucchini, eggplant and capsicum
  • vegetable “noodles” made from zucchini
  • cauliflower “rice” or mash
  • kelp or shirataki noodles

Finally, I prefer using Pecorino Romano instead of Parmesan (or Parmigiano Reggiano) but you can use whichever hard cheese you prefer.

Supercharged Bolognese

This Supercharged Bolognese might look like a regular Bolognese but it’s got a secret ingredient to make it extra nutritious: Feather and Bone’s organic beef mince with organs.

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Total Time 1 hour hr

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

  

Bolognese

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 500 gr beef mince with organs
• 200 gr speck or bacon cut in stripes
• 10 gr dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 small brown onion finely chopped
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 1 medium carrot finely chopped
• 1 celery stalk finely chopped
• 1 leek white part finely chopped
• 1/2 cup red wine or beef broth
• 1 can of chopped tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper
• small handful of basil leaves thinly sliced

To serve

• your choice of vegetables or regular pasta substitute see suggestions above
• freshly grated Pecorino Romano or other hard cheese

Instructions

 

• Heat 1 tbsp oil in a pot or pan. Brown mince and speck/bacon.
• While meat cooks, place mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with hot water. When soft (5-8 minutes), drain but don’t discard the water. Chop mushrooms finely.
• Once meat is cooked, add onion, garlic, carrot, celery and leek. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.
• Add wine/broth and stir until almost fully evaporated.
• Add mushrooms and their water, tomatoes, bay leaf, season with 1 tsp salt and greshly ground pepper. Lower heat and cover cooking vessel. Cook for 30 minutes.
• Turn off heat, check seasoning and stir in basil.
• Serve sauce over vegetables with freshly grated cheese on top.

Keyword beef, beef mince, bolognese, gluten free, ground beef, organ meats, pasta, pasta sauce

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