Remember the polenta the big guy cooked up on the weekend to go with his incredible oxtails? Well we had the rest of it last night covered in an easy vegetable laden bolognese. Oh there had to be a little Italian sausage in it to keep the resident carnivore happy, but had I been thinking I'd have used mushrooms instead of the meat and he'd have never missed it.
A creation from JBug's Kitchen, this "gravy" has onion, celery, carrots, and zucchini along with mere half pound of Italian sausage. Spiced with some fresh sage and sorry looking basil from my almost defunct herb garden, it took less than an hour to cook up a sauce that tasted like it had been on the stove all day. Ladeled on top of polenta that was incredibly creamy on the inside and crispy fried outside, it was dinner fit for Italian nobility. I swear you're really going to like this one! We sure did.
Vegetable and Sausage Bolognese (from Jbug’s Kitchen)
1 small onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 large carrots, quarter inch dice
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound ground hot Italian sausage
1 large zucchini, quarter inch dice
2 tablespoons fresh basil, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh sage, chopped
1 bay leaf
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt & coarse ground black pepper
1/2 cup dry red wine
1-1/2 cups tomato sauce
1 cup beef stock
Heat a large sauté pan over medium high heat. Add olive oil, then onion celery, carrots and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are slightly soft. Add sausage and cook, stirring with a fork until sausage has crumbled and is no longer pink. Add zucchini, basil, sage, bay leaf, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and cook, stirring for another 2 minutes. Add dry red wine and sauté until wine is almost evaporated. Add tomato sauce and beef stock, bring to a boil then lower heat and simmer covered for 20 minutes. Remove cover and simmer until sauce is thickened to desired consistency (about another 10 minutes). Makes 4 servings.
Looks delicious AND healthy. Love all those veggies in there.
Posted by: Mags | 09/22/2010 at 11:40 AM
I gotta side with the big guy - I am a carnivore also... I really can't go a day without my animal protein... Love my veggies though - this is would make that side happy too, without the dreaded you know what hehehehe
Posted by: Nanan | 09/22/2010 at 11:54 AM
Mags - I had a bunch of veggies in the crisper that needed using and this was a good way to do it.
Lea - I think I could quite easily go without meat and just eat cake. LOL
Posted by: June | 09/22/2010 at 01:34 PM
This looks yummy and warming - perfect for fall!
Posted by: Katie@Cozydelicious | 09/22/2010 at 06:55 PM
Ah yes, fall...we actually cooled off to the mid 80's today and we had some rain. Bonus. I'd give anything to be cold!
Posted by: June | 09/22/2010 at 07:38 PM