The trusty family meal you know the kids will eat has had a makeover. This one is loaded with vegetables and some sneaky lentils too! What I love most though is that this recipe doubles so easily (to use a full 500g pack of mince) so there’s an entire nights dinner sorted at the same time. Keep half in the freezer for a busy day and all you’ll have to do is cook the pasta.

Loaded Bolognaise

Ingredients

Serves 4
1 tspns Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1 stalk celery, finely diced (optional)
1 carrot, finely diced
1/2 red capsicum, finely diced
1/2 zucchini, grated
1 tbspn Balsamic vinegar
250g lean beef mince (4 star)
2 cloves garlic, crushed
400g can lentils, drained
400g cans crushed tomatoes with added herbs
1 tspns mixed Italian herbs
Salt + pepper to taste
250g wholegrain spaghetti (I like the Barilla brand as it looks and feels just like regular white spaghetti)

$9.16

How to

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan or heavy based saucepan over low-medium heat.
2. Add the onion, celery, carrot and capsicum. Cook, stirring until soft and translucent, around 7 minutes.
3. Add the zucchini, vinegar, mince and garlic and cook for another 5 minutes, breaking up the mince with a wooden spoon.
4. Add the lentils, tomatoes and Italian herbs and bring to a simmer.
5. Reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and cook for 20 minutes.
6. Cook the pasta in a large pan of boiling water (you don’t need to add salt or oil) for 8 minutes or until al dente.
7. Taste the bolognaise, and season with salt and pepper as required.
8. Serve the remaining sauce on the cooked spaghetti.

Defrost frozen bolognaise in the fridge overnight and reheat in a saucepan over low heat for while the pasta cooks.

This recipe is one of my $10 Family Meals as seen on Today Tonight. This spaghetti bolognaise costs $9.16 to feed 4 people.

Sarah Moore is a mum, and university qualified Registered Nutritionist with a decade of experience working with families to improve their health and well-being. Sarah has a simplistic and practical approach to family nutrition and can help the overwhelm of eating and living well with private consultations, email Q&A and her school lunchbox ebook. You can also find her on Facebook and Instagram for more healthy tips and tricks.