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Turkey Bolognese

  • Prep Time: 5 minutes
  • Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
  • Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
  • Yield: 4-6 servings 1x

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 1 carrot, diced
  • 1 celery stick, diced
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 pound ground turkey or turkey sausage
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning or oregano
  • Olive or canola oil
  • 2 cans (30 ounces) tomato sauce
  • 1/4 cup red wine
  • Additional water or tomato sauce

Instructions

Extra Special Bolognese

  1. Set a Dutch oven or large pot over medium low heat. Saute onions with a little oil until softening, about 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in the remaining vegetables and saute until they begin to brown, another 5 minutes or so. Remove to a bowl.
  3. Add 1 fresh tablespoon of oil to the pan and cook the turkey with salt, pepper, and oregano/Italian seasoning, breaking it up as you go. When it’s completely browned, add the vegetables back in. Cook for another couple minutes, stirring, to start the flavors mingling.
  4. Add the tomato sauce and stir to combine. Cover loosely and bring the heat down to a bare simmer.
  5. Allow to reduce for as long as you have, 1 hour minimum.
  6. Stir periodically. When it starts to look dry, stir in the red wine. Cover and continue to reduce.
  7. if cooking for a long time, more liquid will be needed. Use additional water or more tomato sauce, about 1/4 cup at a time.
  8. Assuming you are also cooking pasta, reserve some pasta water. Use a 1/4 cup or so to loosen up the thickened sauce and to help it stick to the pasta.
  9. Serve over pasta with a generous sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Extra Speedy Bolognese

  1. Brown turkey with salt, pepper, and oregano/Italian seasoning, breaking up into small chunks.
  2. Add veggies and cook until softening, about 5 minutes.
  3. Add tomato sauce and wine. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes, stirring. Serve with Parmesan cheese.