Mushroom and Tomato Bolognese – Who Needs The Meat ? #MushroomMeals

Trying to cook for nine of us, if i’m absolutely honest is a bit of a nightmare!!
I like to be healthy and ensure the children get a good mix of different foods, and its always nice to try something new.

One of my favourite ingredients to use is Mushrooms, I think it roots back to the days when I was on a YTS scheme at the local hospital and they used to do a mean Ham and Mushroom Toastie!! (that was all I could afford in the canteen on £29.50 per week)
The children LOVE spaghetti Bolognese, but I must admit that I have gone off mince lately, so I made them the Bolognese, but without any mince, and added lots more vegetables, to ensure they eat their five a day.

Mushroom and Tomato Bolognese
Serves 4 / Prep time: 15 minutes / Cook time: 35 minutes
Cost: £4.00 Cost per portion: £1.00

Per serving
348kcal/1456kJ
12.5g protein
67g carbohydrate of which 11.5g sugars
5g fat of which 1g saturates
7g dietary fibre
51mg sodium equivalent to 0.1g salt

1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large carrot, chopped
1 aubergine, finely chopped
200g closed cup mushrooms, sliced
400g can chopped tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato puree
250ml vegetable stock
2 tsp Italian mixed dried herbs
300g dried spaghetti
12 cherry tomatoes, halved
Freshly ground black pepper
Basil leaves, to garnish

1 Heat the oil in a large heavy-based saucepan. Add the onion, garlic, carrot, aubergine and mushrooms. Cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes.

2 Add the tomatoes, tomato puree, stock and dried herbs. Stir well. Simmer, partially covered, for 25-30 minutes, adding a little extra water if needed.

3 After 15 minutes, cook the spaghetti in plenty of boiling water for 10-12 minutes, or according to pack instructions. When it’s ready, stir the cherry tomatoes into the Bolognese sauce. Season.

4 Drain the spaghetti and share it between 4 warm plates. Top with the Bolognese sauce and serve, garnished with basil leaves.

So, how did it Go ?

Apart from picking the strongest onion on the planet and having to stop at least six times, for fear of chopping off a finger because I couldn’t see through the tears, the meal was met with very positive feedback.

They loved the fact that a high precentage of their daily veg intake was sorted, they LOVE slurping spaghetti anyway…

For me, it was a very tasty, but simple meal to prepare, you could easily add mince to the bolgnese, but it certainly worked great without, and it has the added bonus that I can serve it to every family member, including my mother in law, who is a vegetarian.

I doubled the recipe, and it fed all nine of us comfortably.

All six of them enjoyed the meal, but Xene is the one who isn’t that keen on having her photo taken by herself, so she reluctantly let me take the shot of the six of them!!

 

 

The next time that I make the meal, I will probably swap the large onion for a red onion or possibly a couple of leeks, just so that I don’t spend too much time crying!!

It will definitely be served next time the in laws are round for tea.

Check out Creamy tomato Soup

For more fab mushroom recipes and ideas, why not follow @moretomushrooms on twitter.

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