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  • Rebecca Harding’s healthier bolognese recipe

    Rebecca Harding - 5 min read

    28 August 2018


    How to make this mid-week favourite – and a few others – a little healthier.

    Rebecca Harding’s healthier bolognese recipe

    Hands up if you love spaghetti bolognese. Well, my hand is high in the air because it’s my favourite food in the entire world. As in, I would eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner if I could handle that much pasta. But unfortunately, I can’t.

    Recently, I’ve found dried pasta hasn’t been sitting so well with me. Devastating, I know, but it doesn’t mean I need to completely cut it out of my diet.

    Instead, I’ve started to reassess all of our favourite weeknight meals and how we eat them. I’ve found pasta is a vessel for bolognese sauce, rice is a vessel for chicken curries and tortillas are a vessel for fish tacos. It turns out all my favourite foods are ones that you might stop eating if you were wanting to opt for a healthier and lighter meal in the evenings.

    So, how do I have my cake (and by cake I mean bolognese, curry and tacos) and eat it too? I incorporate healthy and fun substitutes that still let me enjoy my favourite foods and flavours. After all, it’s about moderation and the subtle changes, right? To begin with, my (well, it’s actually “ours” due to my partner Andy and I combining both our family recipes) bolognese sauce is already fairly healthy. I load it with fresh veggies, use an organic tomato passata that’s low in salt and use organic, free-range minced pork and veal from our local butcher.

    And when it comes to the pasta, we switch it out. We began by switching out half of our pasta with half a bowl of fresh spinach or rocket, then we moved to zoodles and spinach and now it's whatever substitute to dried pasta we have in the fridge. Spelt is another wonderful substitute that we love. Add some chopped fresh herbs and chilli on top for more flavour (meaning that you don’t need as much parmesan) and – voila! – you have yourself a delicious spag bol that is both satisfying and healthy.

    See my zucchini Bolognese recipe below. It doesn’t take long to make, it’s delicious, and it’s healthy too. Enjoy!

    Zucchini Bolognese

    Serves 6

    Ingredients

    Sauce

    • 500g organic pork mince
    • 500g organic veal mince (if your butcher doesn’t have any veal then you can just double the pork mince or use beef as a substitute)
    • 800ml organic tomato passata
    • 100ml organic tomato paste with no added salt
    • 1 cup of red wine
    • 2 x brown onions (finely diced)
    • 2 x zucchinis (grated)
    • 2 x carrots (grated)
    • 2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
    • 1 x chilli (diced finely and optional if you’re not a fan)
    • 3 x dried bay leaves
    • 1 x cinnamon stick
    • 350g button mushrooms (diced finely)
    • 1/2 teaspoon Maldon salt flakes
    • 1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
    • 1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
    • 1 x zucchini per person
    • A handful of fresh spinach per person (or whatever other greens you have in the fridge)
    • Parmesan cheese (grated)


    Method

    1. Slowly heat your olive oil in a stock pot and add crushed garlic and chilli. Make sure the garlic doesn’t burn and after about one minute, add your onions and cook until see-through. Take the mixture out and set aside.
    2. Add your mince, salt and pepper and cook until brown, mixing well. Mix in your tomato paste (this will start to smell delicious). Once the tomato paste is mixed in well add a cup of red wine and leave to boil for a minute or two.
    3. Add the cooked onions, garlic and chilli back to the mixture and stir through the tomato passata. Fill the pasta bottle half full with water, pop the lid on and give it a good shake. Pour the tomato water into the pot and bring to the boil.
    4. Add the remaining grated veggies, salt and pepper and stir through. Pop in the bay leaves and cinnamon stick and turn the heat down to a low simmer.
    5. Leave to simmer with the lid half off for at least 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. We like ours a little thicker so take the lid off for the last 15 minutes to allow some of the liquid to evaporate. If you have time, add a little more water when needed and cook up to three hours. The longer it cooks, the better.
    6. When you’re ready to eat, spiralise some extra zucchinis into zoodles and pour boiling water over them in a strainer. You can have them raw as well if you prefer. Add a good handful of spinach or rocket to the bottom of the bowl, top with the zoodles, a big spoonful of bolognese sauce, fresh parsley, basil and extra diced chilli. Grate some parmesan cheese over it all and a light drizzle of olive oil right before serving.

    Here are some of my other healthy mid-week meal hacks.

    Indian take out

    No one can go past a good take away curry, but why not make it slightly more nutritious with some easy switches and additions?

    • Choose a healthier alternative. Order grilled chicken tikka instead of deep fried samosas.
    • Skip the rice and boil your own quinoa or brown rice at home. If time is of the essence, we like to have a few of the microwaveable pouches in the pantry. If you’d like to avoid rice all together, steam some sweet potato and greens and have your curry with that instead.
    • Add steamed greens. We’re big on greens in our household so this one is a non-negotiable for us. We love to steam some green beans and have some fresh spinach leaves to mix into the curry.


    Mexican take out

    Mexican is one of my favourites, and although it is a traditionally lighter cuisine, there can still can be some hidden cheekies in there.

    • Turn your burrito or taco into a salad. This is my favourite thing to do. Some places have a few salads to choose from (I’m talking good salads, not your normal ‘boring’ ones) on their menu.
    • Ask if they have a grilled fish option instead of fried.
    • Skip the chipotle mayo and add guacamole. Yes, I know guac is extra, but it’s worth it! It provides the moisture and texture that mayo gives but can be a healthier option. I love guac so much that I’ve been known to use it as a dressing on salads. Add a squeeze of lime and a few drops of chilli sauce and I’m a happy amiga.

    Rebecca Harding

    Rebecca Harding is a Melbourne-based model, AIA Vitality ambassador, wellness advocate and pasta lover.

    Disclaimer:
    The information in this article is general information only and is not intended as financial, medical, health, nutritional, tax or other advice. It does not take into account any individual’s personal situation or needs. You should consider obtaining professional advice from a financial adviser and/or tax specialist, or medical or health practitioner, in relation to your own circumstances and before acting on this information.


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    AIA Vitality is a science-backed program that helps you learn more about your health, offers ways to improve it and motivates you with rewards along the way.

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