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Real Recipes From Real Home Cooks ®

betty's hidden vegetable bolognese sauce

RecipesandSmallTalk avatar
Recipe by
Betty Bramanis
@RecipesandSmallTalk
Sydney

Use your Kitchen Aid or other chopping tool that chops things finely in seconds to re-create this recipe that I've been making for almost 2 decades for my now teenagers. My eldest turns 21 in less than 2 weeks. A meaty sauce packed with finely chopped (non-visible) vegetables for picky eaters. Rich and flavorful, it will make everyone at the dinner table happy! Note - this is a large batch that makes plenty for dinner and leftovers or for freezing for another meal (such as lasagna).

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yield 14 serving(s)
prep time 20 Min
cook time 1 Hr
method Stove Top

Ingredients For betty's hidden vegetable bolognese sauce

  • olive oil
  • 1
    onion, finely chopped
  • 2 lb
    low fat ground beef
  • 2 - 3
    red peppers, depending on size
  • 2 - 4
    carrots, depending on size (2 if large, 4 if medium)
  • 2 lg
    zuchinni
  • 3 - 4 stalk
    celery
  • 2 can
    tomatoes, divided
  • 3 heaping tsp
    minced garlic
  • 1 jar
    tomato pasta sauce (use your favorite)
  • water
  • 2 tsp
    dried basil
  • 2 tsp
    dried oregano
  • 4 - 6
    dried bay leaves (depending on size)
  • 1 - 2 tsp
    garlic salt
  • pepper, to taste
  • 3 heaping Tbsp
    tomato paste
  • 1 Tbsp
    brown sugar
  • cooked pasta/spaghetti, to serve
  • Parmesan cheese, to serve (if desired)

How To Make betty's hidden vegetable bolognese sauce

  • 1
    Heat a little oil in a large pot and cook the chopped onion with meat. (The onion can chopped using the kitchen chopper so you can't see it, if you have issues with people not liking onion.)
  • 2
    While the meat is cooking, chop all remaining vegetables into smallish pieces. I work with two batches of vegetables to be blitzed and cut fine. Add the softer veggies at the bottom and top with harder veggies. (The first batch might be red peppers and carrot while the second batch might be zucchini and celery.) Pour a can of tomatoes over the top and add about 3 tablespoons water. Swish and pour over the veggies. Blitz until smooth.
  • 3
    Returning to the meat, use a wooden spoon to break up the pieces so there are no large clumps. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant (cooking too long will cause it to be bitter).
  • 4
    Add in the first lot of blitzed veggies and stir well. Blitz the second batch of veggies - repeat with the remaining vegetables, canned tomatoes and a little water. Add to the pot and stir well.
  • 5
    Add the pasta sauce and rinse out the jar with about 1/2 cup of water, dumping it into the pot. Add the herbs, bay leaves, salt, pepper, tomato paste, and brown sugar. Allow to almost come to the boil (about 15 minutes). Turn down to low and simmer for 30 minutes. At the end of 30 minutes, start preparing your pasta.
  • 6
    Once the pasta is cooked, strain well and either combine the sauce and pasta in the meat sauce pot OR add pasta for each person to a plate and top with sauce.
  • 7
    To freeze or store sauce for no more than 3 days, allow sauce to sit until no longer steaming. Refrigerate in a non metal bowl or container. To freeze, add into a freezer proof container (well washed ice-cream containers are wonderful) or thick zip top freezer bag/s. Label any bags or containers with the date and what's inside for ease later on.
  • Last Step: Don't forget to share! Make all your friends drool by posting a picture of your finished recipe on your favorite social network. And don't forget to tag Just A Pinch and include #justapinchrecipes so we can see it too!
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