I haven’t posted up a pasta sauce from scratch recipe in quite some time, and with my garden starting to burst with life, it seemed a fitting time to share a recipe straight from the garden. If you know me or have been following me, you’ll know that I use a very similar roasted tomato base for a lot of my, well, tomato sauces! I’ll link those below if you’re looking for some ideas!
So, my husband claims he doesn’t like bolognese sauce… he “hates” it (🙄). He actually said that years and years ago when he thought bolognese sauce was just a meat sauce… until I made my spaghetti for him and he’s been hooked on it ever since. Well, he left on his first business trip since the pandemic, so I decided to make a traditional bolognese sauce while he was gone.
So, what’s really the difference between a bolognese and a spaghetti sauce? To me, a big part is that traditional bolognese adds carrots and celery. You barely even notice that the carrots and celery are there, but besides adding some flavor to the sauce, they give it an added nutrient boost.
The other big difference is milk. A traditional bolognese adds milk or heavy cream to the sauce, whereas spaghetti sauces do not. To make this recipe healthier, I replaced the milk/heavy cream with a mixture of nonfat Greek yogurt and unsweetened almond milk. Now, that may seem like crazy sauce, but let me lay this out for you.
First, have you looked at how many calories there are in whole milk or heavy cream? It’s insane! Even if you aren’t watching your waistline, the amount of extra calories it adds to any meal is absurd.
Second, it adds so much extra unhealthy fats and cholesterol into your diet that are just not needed. Nonfat Greek yogurt provides the nutrients of a typical dairy product without the unhealthy fats while giving the extra boost of probiotics. And almond milk? I am a huge fan of using almond milk instead of animal milk. HUGE FAN! You cannot taste the difference when almond milk is added to a recipe versus regular milk. But, you get the huge benefit of drastically cutting calories, completely cutting out cholesterol and the fat in almond milk is actually healthy fat! So, basically, win win win.
And you may say you don’t care about calories, or fats, or cholesterol, or blah blah blah… and maybe you don’t… yet. But I guarantee you, one day you very likely will. But, I feel these days, compared to when I was growing up, more and more people do care about living a healthier lifestyle, which is why more people have embraced vegetarian or vegan diets or are incorporating more meatless meals into their weekly line up.
Now, some bolognese recipes use wine… usually white. Others don’t. I opted not to use any wine. My traditional spaghetti sauce uses red wine. For my bolognese sauce, I use some beef stock. I really don’t feel like you’re missing out on anything using beef stock instead of wine, except even more unnecessary calories 😜.
I slow cooked the sauce with dried herbs but mixed in fresh herbs right before serving. That way the flavor of the fresh herbs was still vibrant and gave a good fresh punch to the flavor. The longer you slow cook this, the better. It also the acids in the tomatoes to keep breaking down and melding with the sauce. AKA, I recommend let this simmer throughout your Sunday rather than popping this in your instant pot! You can, of course, but do try a nice long simmer… this is why this is a perfect Sunday dinner 😉.
Oh, and as for my husband? Super jealous! And, I have no doubt, he will love this!
Other recipes where I use roasted tomatoes as my base sauce? Check them out here! Enjoy!
Meatballs with Grilled Romaine
Print
Healthier Summer Garden Bolognese Sauce
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Italian, Pasta
- Cuisine: Dinner
Ingredients
3 lbs tomatoes (I used a mix of Roma and Campari), halved
10 – 15 garlic cloves
1 large sweet onion, chopped
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
3 small carrot sticks, peeled and finely chopped
1 lb quality ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1 cup beef broth
1 – 15 oz can diced tomatoes
6 oz can tomato paste
2 TBs balsamic vinegar
2 bay leaves
2 tsps dried oregano
2 tsps dried basil
½ tsp nutmeg
½ cup unsweetened almond milk
½ cup nonfat Greek yogurt
1 TB olive oil
salt & pepper
To Serve
1 – 1½ lbs pappardelle, cooked according to the package
fresh basil, oregano, & thyme, roughly chopped
freshly grated Parmesan
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Spread the tomato halves evenly across a large baking sheet. Toss the garlic cloves among the tomatoes. Lightly sprinkle with salt. Bake for one and a half hours (90 minutes).
While the tomatoes bake, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, celery, and carrots and cook, stirring often, until just starting to soften ~ about 5 minutes. Add the ground beef and pork, cooking until cooked through, breaking up with a wooden spoon (NOTE: it’s okay if there is some pink left in the meat ~ we’re looking to cook off the rawness and release the juices).
If desired, drain off the excess fat (I used a 3% fat ground beef and chose to leave the fat accumulated for extra flavor). Otherwise, add the beef broth, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, balsamic vinegar, bay leaves, dried oregano, dried basil, and nutmeg. Stir to thoroughly combine. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer while the tomatoes finish cooking in the oven.
When the tomatoes are done roasting, carefully scoop the tomatoes and garlic into a blender or food processor. Process until smooth. Add to the saucepan. Add the almond milk and Greek yogurt and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Let simmer for an additional 30 minutes or longer (the longer a tomato sauce simmers, the more the flavors blossom and meld together). Remove the bay leaves.
Prepare the pappardelle according to the package. Return the pasta to the pot and dish over some of the bolognese sauce. Toss to combine. Divide among plates and top with additional sauce, freshly chopped basil, oregano, and thyme, and freshly grated Parmesan.
Mangia!
Notes
Note: nutritional estimates include the pappardelle but do not include any cheese estimates.
Keywords: Sunday dinner, spaghetti sauce, bolognese sauce, homemade spaghetti sauce, homemade bolognese sauce, homemade tomato sauce, bolognese sauce from scratch, tomato sauce from scratch, homemade bolognese, bolognese recipes
