"Heatlhy" Bolognese Recipe

[WineThirty]

As part of a health kick I am trying to limit processed food to the extent possible. Here is my standard bolognese recipe - let me know if you think this is as healthy as it can be for bolognese (DC will sometimes ask for it and i am not a fan of cooking multiple meals so would aim to have a smallish portion of the pasta and have salad on the side).

wholemeal pasta
5% beef mince
onion (sometimes use frozen chopped onion)
grated carrot (sometimes use M&S frozen sofrito mix)
garlic (sometimes use frozen chopped garlic or garlic paste)
tin of tomatoes or passata
tomato puree
beef stock melt or stock cube
herbs (eg oregano and basil) - could be fresh, frozen or dried
seasoning
other veg such as red pepper or mushroom if i have some to use up

For example, is it any worse to use frozen onion than fresh - label does not suggest there are any additives.

As bolognese is basically just veg and beef mince I should imagine the main issue is the fat in the mince. Fry the beef and pour the fat off. Go easy on portion size and parmesan.

If the frozen onion only has onion listed on the ingredients then it's not ultra-processed so go for it! Minced garlic in a tube or jar usually has at least preservatives etc so I'd avoid if you're trying to reduce UPFs.

The stock/ stock cube will be a UPF, you don't technically need them but I think a lot of people get used to the flavour. You could cut this down gradually over a number of weeks to phase them out (salt, pepper, herbs will be enough flavour but I'd also use a higher fat content meat, just less overall)

And check the ingredients on your seasoning! Magi is terrible!

If it's a general kick you could substitute <50% of the meat for lentils or pulses - it decreases the amount of saturated fat and ups the fibre content.

We use turkey mince rather than beef mince for bolognese. It is hard to tell the difference.

I was going to suggest this. It's cheaper as well.

You don't need the stock cube so just leave it out.

thanks. i will ditch the stock cube and give up the garlic paste in favour of fresh. Will also give i a go with some lentils.

I agree with add a few lentils, so a little less beef and tge stock cube is the only processed thing and not needed.

If you want to leave out the stock cubes try this:
Put onions (fresh), carrot & celery stick in equal parts in your food processor/ mincer. Mince it really fine and then fry off ... add the Mince meat and other ingredients. Season with extra Smoked Paprika (if you have any) salt & pepper.

I use the mix as a base for many meals, it freezes easy both in the raw and fried state. I just use a silicone ice cube tray.
I sometimes add garlic or fresh parsley to it for a little twist.

I use half beef and half pork as pork is cheap. Once the mince is well cooked down and fat rendered I add an entire punnet of mushrooms very finely chopped.

Onion, celery and grated carrot.
Garlic.
Handful red lentils.

Can add some pureed squash too if you have some- cook and mix with the tomatoes.

If you want to avoid processed food why on earth would you be eating pasta? You can't get more man-made or process than the wheat which is produced today.

I don't normally bother with a stock cube either but I do chuck in a load of herbs - dried Italian mixed herbs will work. I also blitz mushrooms in a food processor and add with the grated carrots.

We need some fat in our diet, & fat=flavour, so I wouldn't worry about the % in the beef. Traditionally, both beef & pork are used, & pork is cheap so I'd use that .
Only thing I'd change is stock cube - leave it out.

Pasta is not ultra processed. It's processed. There is a wide difference.

I make mine with chicken or turkey mince and courgetti instead of pasta. It works really well and still gives you (healthier!) bolognese vibes!

There's not enough fat to pour any off from 5% mince IME. There isn't really enough to brown the veg in, so I usually need a bit of olive oil.

I use two tins of toms and quite a lot of veg per pound/500g mince. Two medium onions, a couple of carrots, a red pepper and a stick or two of celery plus the garlic of course.

I always add some, er, fermented red grape juice as part of my 5-a-day.

James Duigan's super mince- delicious!

Nothing wrong with it, nothing wrong with red meat. You could substitute it for green lentils or half and half it, or make it all with vegetables if you wanted a low calorie and nutrient lighter version but with less fat. Meat is nutrient dense but also calorie dense in some forms.

Your recipe looks fine, it just depends on what you want on the day.

Lots of olive oil is fine, cook the onions for a long time, 40 mins or more, slowly the a good amount of olive oil, the flavour will be outstanding. Chuck a bit of balsamic in there too

Deliciously Ella's recipe with lentils, grated carrot, tomato paste and sun dried tomatoes doesn't sound like anything special but it amazingly good! I do it in my slow cooker and it makes a huge batch

There is nothing inherently unhealthy about a standard Ragu. The key is to not put too much on your pasta. You should not have a pile of mince on top of a mound of pasta, be more Italian

Also no to the wholewheat pasta. You would be better using fresh egg pasta made with Durum wheat.

I think frozen onion & soffrito are fine, just the vegetable with no additives

Stock cube as pp say is where any additives will be, so ditch. You will need to add salt instead.

I recommend swapping 1/3 of the beef mine for pork for extra flavour although this isn’t practical unless doing a big batch.

I assume “seasoning” just means salt and pepper?

I split mince bit to be 50% low fat beef and 50% soya mince - my H says he prefers it

Well I wouldn’t call it a bolognese with those ingredients, but for a meaty tomato sauce with some veg it sounds ok.

I think bouillon might be a good non-UPF substitute for stock cubes.