Back when the quarantine first started and lengthy cooking projects were fun and a great use of time, a 20 minute recipe may not have been what you had in mind. But as the days and weeks continue to tick on, and cooking has become less and less novel - quick, easy and delicious may be more your forte. In this covid era of cooking, focusing on crowd pleasing easy to cook staples is becoming more and more essential. Enter this simple turkey bolognese - 20 minutes of active cooking time, hours of (optional, but recommended) inactive cooking time.
If you want to make this vegan, consider replacing the turkey with lentils or tempeh. If you want to cut the pasta, consider serving the bolognese over sauté greens or spaghetti squash.
Turkey Bolognese
Serves 6
2 tbsps olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1 celery stalk, finely chopped
2 teaspoons tomato paste
2 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons dried basil
2 pounds ground turkey (I do a combination of 1 pound hot ground turkey sausage and 1 pound ground dark meat from dipaola turkey at the farmers market)
1- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 pound of your favorite pasta
Parm and fresh basil to garnish
In a large dutch oven, warm the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until translucent. Stir in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes more. Add the carrots and celery and cook for an additional 5 minutes to soften. Add the tomato paste, oregano, basil, a pinch salt and pepper, tossing to coat the vegetables. Next, combine the ground turkey and brown, adding a pinch more salt to season. Toss in the crushed tomatoes and simmer partially covered for at least an hour (I let this simmer for 4 hours) letting flavors concentrate and sauce reduce while stirring often. When ready to serve, cook your pasta and top with sauce, parm, and basil.
Stay healthy and safe!
