Vegetarian Bolognese Sauce
(Adapted from The Pioneer Woman courtesy of Pastor Ryan)

1 carrot, sliced in large pieces (will be removed after cooking)
1 medium zucchini, grated
1 large onion, diced
1/4 C olive oil
1 package Yves ground round “beef”
1/2 package Gimme Lean Italian sausage-style “beef”
2 Tbsp. Oregano
2 Tbsp. dried basil
1 tsp. red pepper flakes
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 C red wine (or juice, I used cranberry)
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire
salt
pepper
1 14.5 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 14.5 oz. can petite diced tomatoes
1 28 oz. can tomato puree
1 C milk
Fresh Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add grated carrots, zucchini and diced onions and cook for a few minutes. Add garlic and stir to combine.

Add Worcestershire and stir. Add canned tomatoes. Finally, pour in milk, stir, and let simmer for 30 minutes to 2 hours—however long you need. Remove chunks of carrot and discard. The original recipe calls for grated carrots, which are left in the sauce. However, I was taught that the carrots absorb the tomatoes’ acidity and should be removed.


Serve over spaghetti or angel hair pasta.

Normally, I open up a jar of packaged spaghetti sauce, add some mushrooms and “beef” crumbles and spice it up a bit. That’s usually really good and suits our needs for a quick, easy dinner (also, if you’re addicted to that jarred sauce flavor, you may want to add a bit of brown sugar). So, I was a little skeptical of taking all this time to “create” the same thing from scratch. But, in the interest of using more whole foods, I thought I’d give it a shot. And I’m glad I did. Yes, it took a lot more effort and time. But it was so worth it and our toddler absolutely loved it. I’ll likely still use the quick and easy solution on occasion, but I will definitely make this sauce again. Also, this makes A LOT of sauce, about 7 cups. So if that’s way too much for your family, be sure to cut the recipe down.