Another food post

So, tonight I'm making my number one go-to meal. This meal is all-in-one healthy, kid friendly, easy to double or triple batch and capable of making you feel like you've created something wonderful. Okay, this is really nothing that new, but it's my take on classic "spaghetti" sauce or bolognese. I wanted to share this with you today for any of you looking for something to add to your cooking repertoire. I've been making this recipe for about 3 years, so I can say that I've had some good luck with it. Here we go.

Ingredients
2 lbs(ish) ground turkey 97% or 99% lean
84 oz total tomatoes (3 big cans) can include crushed, diced or sauce
1 large finely chopped onion
4 cloves finely chopped garlic
1 C finely chopped carrots
salt and pepper
1 lb pasta
optional extras:
mushrooms
fresh basil
Parmesan cheese for the sprinkle

Begin by browning turkey in a drizzle of olive oil in a medium hot pan (you'll need a big one if you make this entire recipe). After meat is half-way browned, add onions, carrots and garlic. When I make this recipe, I chop my veggies in the food processor because it is so much quicker and the kids can't pick out the onions. Let the meat and veggies cook together for 10 minutes. Add a generous amount of salt and pepper (remember, there's nothing pre-packaged here, so the salt and pepper are very important).

Once that has cooked together for awhile, add the tomatoes. I use a combination of 28 oz petite diced tomatoes and 56 oz of whole tomatoes which I pulverize in my food processor (it's already dirty anyway). I prefer to use whole tomatoes when I can because manufacturers use their best tomatoes for this packaging. You will also need to add a little more salt now. This is also when I add the mushrooms (I prefer the baby bellas - it's a whole container from the produce section). Bring this to a good bubble. Then turn down heat to simmer and cover.

Now is when it's up to you. If you have time, let it simmer for an hour. If you're rushed, it will still be good served quickly. At least give it the amount of time to boil the pasta. If you notice that the sauce is not thick enough, let it simmer with the lid off for a while (the sauce will reduce). I add some fresh basil just before I mix the sauce and noodles.

Pasta recommendations: To add nutrition, use whole wheat pasta. Remember to salt your water for flavor. Set your time for the time on the box (if I don't do this, I end up with over-done pasta). Don't rinse your pasta after. Pre-mix pasta and sauce before you serve it, you get better sauce coverage on the noodles this way.

I will hope to get 3 batches out of this recipe (if I can keep Ryan out of the extra sauce). But for me, that means feeding 5 people dinner and Ryan lunch tomorrow with one batch. Each batch should easily cover 1 lb of pasta. When we have a busy schedule (like we will starting next week with school), I try to keep at least one batch of this in the freezer. I buy my pasta at Costco now, so I always have a GOOD meal available.

Now I realize that I am not the only one who knows how to cook and many of you already have a tried and true recipe. But, if you're looking for a good, basic and healthy meat sauce, give this a try.

Cheers! J