Three Way Bolognese

Don't get your hopes up guys this isn't as exciting as it sounds I'm sorry but I won't be indulging you all in some type of three way food porn so if that's what you were expecting, see-ya!

For those of you who are interested in cooking, read on haha. So this is my basic Bolognese recipe, really simple to make and super flavoursome. Not only that but it can be used to create three delicious family meals...

1) Spaghetti Bolognese
2) Bolognese Pasta Bake-My fav!
3) Lasagne

I personally love to make a batch of pasta bake (which makes 8 portions!) and portion it into Tupperware and put some in the fridge as the older children like to take it to school, Also I'll put a few in the freezer (they keep for 6-8weeks) so it is also a quick and easy meal for me, whack it in the microwave with a bag of microwave veg and I have a nutritious dinner in minutes, because lets face it what busy mum wants to spend X amount of time cooking her evening meal once the kids have gone to bed, I know I certainly don't! Most nights I'm that goosed I can't even be arsed to take my makeup off or brush my teeth before bed let alone cook!

I'm actually sat here at the moment eating a Pasta Bake Tupperware that I've taken out of the freezer and microwaved to save time so that I can catch up on coursework and blog. So one big soup/stock pan is what you need for this.

INGREDIENTS
300g Bag of Quorn Mince (or use 500g Lean Steak Mince)
3 Sweet Peppers
1 Medium Brown Onion
250g Punnet of Button Mushrooms
3 Vegetable Stock Cubes
2 Tbsp Tomato Puree
1 Tin of Chopped Tomatoes With Herbs


METHOD
1) Make up 1.2 pints of vegetable stock in a jug. Place mince in the bottom of the bowl with the tomato puree and cover with the stock mix so the water is roughly a centimetre above the mince. If using Steak mince, mash it up in the water with a potato masher, so its all in small bits.
2) Turn the hob on full and whilst the water is coming up to temperature, chop and dice your onion first and add to the water, then peppers, then finally the mushrooms. Continue to allow to boil, do NOT turn the temperature down. Keep stirring the mixture every few minutes or so.
3) Allow all the water to boil out so there's roughly 1cm deep of water left at the bottom of the pan. This should take roughly 20 minutes. Once you're at this point turn the temp down to simmer and add your tin of chopped tomatoes, stir that all through your mix and allow it t all come to the same temp, then voila, you're done!


So you can use this Bolognese mix to make the three meals above.

Serve the Bolognese on top of  spaghetti and sprinkle with cheese.

Layer in a Glass dish, Bolognese, lasagne sheet, Bolognese, lasagne sheet, Bolognese, Lasagne Sheet, White Sauce (jar) and then sprinkle the top with cheese and bake in a preheated oven on 180 degrees for 35-45 minutes.

Half cook a full packet of fusilli pasta and drain, place in a large 30cm x 20cm glass oven dish and the add your Bolognese mixture to the dish too and add 100g of 50% reduced fat grated cheese and mix it all together thoroughly. Then cover the top of the mixture with a further 150g of cheese then bake in a preheated over for 35-45minutes until the cheese on top is melted and golden.

Nutritional info below for the pasta bake and Bolognese (Made with Quorn)


Pasta Bake  (serves 8)
Cals 261 
Carbs 26.2g
Fat 6.5g
Protein 21.7g

Bolognese (Serves 6)
Cals 110
Carbs 12.9g
Fat 1.9g
​Protein 12.9g