Spaghetti Bolognese

Serves 8

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his is a great recipe for Family Day (September 22), or any other day! Traditional meat sauce takes at least three or four hours to cook. This one takes about one hour. I've replaced the traditional mixture of ground beef, pork and veal with extra-lean organic ground beef. The milk helps to tenderize the lean sirloin, so you don't end up with little hard pellets. You can barely detect the whole-wheat pasta, and it's quite filling, which helps you control your portions. Serve this with a green salad for a complete meal.

Ingredients:

• 1 ¼ cup white zinfandel or other sweet white wine
• 1 ½-ounce package Melissa's dried porcini mushrooms
• ½ cup very hot water
• 11 Bunny Luv organic baby carrots, coarsely chopped (about ½ cup)
• 1 medium organic onion, coarsely chopped (about 3/4 cup)
• 2 14-ounce cans Carmelina e San Marzano whole tomatoes with juice
• 1 ½ tablespoons Napa Valley organic olive oil
• 4 Melissa's organic garlic cloves, pressed with a garlic press
• 20 ounces Gelson's Finest organic ground sirloin
• 1 ½ cups Horizon Organic 1% milk
• 2 tablespoons Valbon tomato paste
• 4 white mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons dried Italian oregano
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 3/4 cup C&W organic frozen peas
• 8 ounces Hodgson Mills organic whole-wheat spaghetti with flax seeds
• 8 tablespoons Reggiano Parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions:


1. Heat wine in a small saucepan over medium heat. When it begins to bubble, reduce heat to low and simmer until it is reduced to two tablespoons, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, cover dried mushrooms with hot water and allow to soak until soft, about 10-15 minutes. Remove mushrooms and pour soaking liquid through a paper towel-lined mesh strainer.

2. Place carrots in a food processor and pulse ten times. Scrape down sides. Add onion and pulse ten more times until both veggies are finely minced. Set aside in a bowl. Add softened mushrooms and pulse until finely ground, scraping down sides as necessary. Transfer to bowl. Add canned tomatoes with juice and pulse seven times to chop tomatoes.

3. Heat oil over medium-high heat in your largest skillet. Add processed vegetables and cook five minutes until soft, but not brown. Add garlic and cook 30 seconds. Add ground meat and use a wooden spatula to quickly break into large chunks. Pour the milk over the meat and begin to break the meat into half-inch chunks. When milk begins to bubble, reduce heat to medium and continue breaking meat into even smaller bits. Cook about 20 minutes, until most of the liquid is evaporated.

4. Stir in the tomato paste. Clear a little space in the center of the pan for the sliced mushrooms and cook about one minute. Add tomatoes, mushroom soaking liquid, salt, pepper, oregano, and sugar. Simmer about 15 minutes until sauce is reduced and slightly thick.

5. Add reduced wine and peas. Simmer about five minutes.

6. While sauce is simmering, begin to cook spaghetti according to package directions. Reserve a half-cup of cooking water before draining and add it back to drained pasta in the stock pot. Stir in a few spoonfuls of pasta sauce. Divide pasta among 8 bowls. Top with 3/4 cup of sauce. Garnish with 1 tablespoon grated parmesan.

Each 1 1/2 cup serving contains:
Calories Fat Saturated Fat Cholesterol Sodium Total Carbohydrate Dietary Fiber Sugars Protein Vitamin A Vitamin C Calcium Iron	350       11 g     4 g     60 mg  340 mg  35 g     6 g     9 g     39 g     46% DV 32% DV 17% DV 25% DV