Sometimes you crave a delicious meat sauce but you just dont have time to let it simmer all flippin day to create that richness and amazing taste.  Normally a good sauce requires time, TLC and extreme patience.  Well today is the day I share my efficiency with all of you and let you in on my 25 minute sauce that tastes like it’s been cooking all day long and that you have been slaving over a hot stove.  Insert evil laugh!!

The other great thing about this dish is that it is LOADED with veggies under the guise of a tomato based bolognese sauce.  Its pretty much like a halloween costume because of it’s amazing ability to dress up as a pasta sauce but it’s really just your vegetable garden.  Psyche!!

First thing you want to do is peel 2 carrots and chop them in to pieces.  Rough chop people, rough chop.  Your food processor is going to take care of the rest of things.  Seriously, I love using my food processor to make things easier in the kitchen and save time.  It’s great for sauces and chopping.  It’s also a bit of a workout getting that flippin’ thing out of the bottom cupboard so you can pretty much cancel your gym membership…just sayin’!  K, back to the recipe…Chop a half onion in to pieces and 2 celery stalks in to pieces.  Throw your celery, onion and carrot in to your food processor and pulse the crap out of it! You will pretty much have a bright orange pile of pulp and guess what…it’s exactly what you want

Chopped Veggies

After you pulse the carrots, celery and onion in the food processor, it will look like a bright orange lump of pulp…that’s what you want!

Next take 6 sausages (I use a sweet italian basil) and take them out of the casing.  If you can find ground sausage meat without the casing, then go for it.  Using sausage meat in pasta can be a great and quick way to boost the flavour because sausage is already loaded with herbs and spices which in turn saves you time.

This picture is ridiculous…I get it. I contemplated not including it but it cracked me up so much I kinda had to. Yup, i’m pretty much a 15 year old boy…all the time!

Fry up the sausage meat in a deep dish skillet.  Make sure you crumble it along the way because you don’t want the pieces to be too big. Drain the excess fat.

Cooked sausage meat

Add diced red pepper and mushroom and cook for about 1-2 minutes.  Next add your orange pulp mixture from your veggies in the food processor.  The puree’d veggies are going to add a thickness to the sauce that is incredible.  The kind of thickness you only get after you’ve been cooking all day…not 25 minutes!!

Cooked sausage meat. Add your red peppers and mushrooms

Add your puree’d veggies

Add 1 Tbsp of fresh chopped basil and a tsp of dried oregano and stir.

Add some fresh basil

Add a big can of crushed tomatoes (no salt), the one I used was 796 ml (not 800…that’s right 796ml) and stir the mixture together.  Add some ground pepper and a splash of balsamic vinegar, stir and then place the lid on and let the mixture simmer for 25 minutes on medium.

Here’s what the finished product looks like. YUM

Serve with noodles or zucchini spirals in place of noodles.  This sauce is amazing!!!  It has so much depth and flavour and only takes a short amount of time to cook.  It’s a great weeknight meal that packs a punch.

Amazing Bolognese Sauce

Ingredients

• 2 Carrots
• 2 Celery Stalks
• 1/2 white onion
• 1/2 red pepper diced small
• 4 mushrooms chopped small
• 6 italian sausages (or flavour of your choice), taken out of casing
• 1 large can of crushed tomatoes (no salt added)
• 1 Tbsp of fresh basil leaves chopped fine
• 1 tsp of dried oregano
• Splash of balsamic vinegar
• Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Chop carrots, celery and onion roughly and place in a food processor.  Pulse in to a fine pulp and set aside
2. Take sausage out of casing and fry it in a large skillet, making sure to crumble it in to small pieces
3. Add mushrooms and red pepper and cook for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add veggie pulp to the mixture and stir to mix everything together.
5. Add 1 Tbsp chopped basil and 1 Tsp dried oregano
6. Add Can of crushed tomatoes and a splash of balsamic vinegar and stir.  Add pepper if desired
7. Let the sauce cook for 20-25 minutes on medium.
8. Serve with pasta or zucchini noodles.

This sauce is so thick, rich and delicious and it will have your dinner table thinking you slaved all flippin day on this sauce.  Just because you didn’t, doesn’t mean there is any less love on that plate.  Hope you enjoy this moody little sauce that is a true illustration of efficiency!!