As a kid of the 1990's Spaghetti bolognese featured on my family’s menu weekly, if it isn’t still a family staple these days, it should be. It’s so easy to make; it provides a balanced meal and who doesn't like it?
My suggestion is to stay away from jars of sauce – you don’t need them. They have hidden sugar, salt and other additives to prolong shelf-life. If you want to make a really quick bolognese with a jar of sauce, use
Janet’s Just Delicious Pasta Sauces. They’re Irish, have none of the crap the long-life ones have and are a nutritional kick up the arse accompaniment to this recipe.
My bolognese is made using a slow-cooker. I’d highly recommend a family invest in one of these to make mealtimes easier. It’s a handy and energy efficient way for making soups, stews and curries. Just add the ingredients, switch it on and go about your daily business. Then come home to a delicious and nutritious meal. Simples.
I am not a coeliac and do not advocate cutting wheat and gluten out of your diet entirely unless it causes allergies or other ailments to your body. However, I’ve recently started using
Leaves Pure Food Pasta with Benefits. This naturally gluten-free pasta, made in Ireland from buckwheat and chickpeas, so it's higher in protein, fibre and nutrients than traditional wheat pasta. And it’s a lot less bloating on your system as releases energy slowly, so it keeps you all full on busy days.
You can adapt the recipe with additional hidden vegetables – chop everything finely or blend it up in a food processor and it dissolves into the sauce.
Slow cooker ragu-bolognese with high-protein pasta.
Serves 4
1 tablespoon olive or rapeseed oil
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
1 large celery stalk, finely sliced
1 carrot, peeled and grated
400g mince (round mince is the best)
1 beef stock pot or cube
1 tin tomatoes and 1 tinful of water
Optional ingredients:
1 teaspoon each dried oregano and thyme
2 anchovy fillets (for umami savoury flavour, they’ll disintegrate and no fishiness I promise)
A few drops Worcestershire sauce
2 boxes of Leaves Pure Food Pasta with Benefits
Parmesan finely grated to serve
Method
1. Bung all the ragu ingredients into the slow cooker, making sure you break up the mince as much as possible. If you’re not using the optional ingredients, add a pinch of salt for flavour. Follow your manufacturer's manual for guidelines on temperatures and cooking times, but generally you should be able to leave it covered safely on a low to medium heat for 4-8 hours. It’ll be lovely rich and tender when you come home to serve.
2. If you don’t have a slow cooker you can adapt to a heavy-based saucepan. This way, it’s best to sauté the onion, celery and carrot in some olive or rapeseed oil for ten minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients. Bring to the boil and simmer half-covered with a lid for an hour or two.
3. Ten mins before serving cook the 'Leaves Pure Food Pasta with Benefits' according to pack instructions (only takes 5 mins to cook). Serve all together with some Parmesan. Delish.
Elaine Lavery is a former French Alps chalet chef, and now the co-founder of Irish company Improper Food. The company’s first product, Improper Butter is a yummy range of natural garlic and herb cooking butters.
This week Elaine is our foodie Guest Blogger, highlighting some amazing Irish small food producers, she adds, "As a small food producer, I am a big advocate of buying local. We have amazing quality produce to choose from and buying local has become really on-trend." 
