Homemade Bolognese Sauce with Spaghetti Squash

Homemade Bolognese Sauce with Spaghetti Squash

I have only made spaghetti squash once before, and I wanted to make it again but in a different way. If you read my previous spaghetti squash entry, you know that I made a butter sage sauce, and it just...wasn't right. Something wasn't jiving the way I needed it to. The squash was too mild and the sauce was just too sweet. This time, I knew I wanted to make a slow cooked tomato sauce to really bring out all the flavors of a classic Italian dish. This is my own slow-cooked tomato sauce recipe, and it is so easy to make. If you have a lazy Saturday or Sunday coming up, I suggest you slap those onion goggles onto your face (or not), slice and dice a few ingredients, and in a few hours you have a gourmet pasta sauce.

For your information, last night I went to a soul food cooking class in Oakland and learned a trick to cutting onions. Once you peel the outer layers, wash the onion under cold running water and rub for about a minute. This will get all the slime off, and should prevent you from crying and/or ruining your mascara. Perfect!

This recipe looks like it yields a lot at first, but once it simmers down after a few hours, it isn't an overwhelming amount. This recipe can yield up to 4 servings.

Because summer is pretty much done (my house now no longer has open windows, and the heating blanket is going to come out of the closet very soon), it is really important to get your fill on tomatoes now. Tomatoes are going to be out of season as soon as the chilly will really hits, and so if you want to double my recipe and freeze some in a ziplock bag, you can save the frozen sauce for up to 6 months. Just let it defrost the day you want to use it. I suggest making my recipe vegetarian if you are planning on keeping this frozen, as beef doesn't stay good frozen as long and well as tomatoes do.

I have made a spaghetti squash recipe before, so if you are wondering how to make that happen, click here. Guys, it really is SO easy. Literally, yes mom, literally, all you have to do is stab a few holes into the spaghetti squash, bake it for an hour at 375 degrees, and there you have it. No need to strain the squash through special...weirdo holes...Literally. When you bake a spaghetti squash, it comes out in the spaghetti consistency you will see in my pictures.

Ingredients:

7-8 tomatoes

1 6 oz can tomato paste

1 large yellow onion, diced

7-8 roughly diced garlic cloves

1 jalapeño

1 lb ground beef

2 sprigs fresh rosemary

1 teaspoon dried oregano 

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper

1/4-1/2 cup fresh basil leaves

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a medium-large saucepan or pot. Add onion and cook until the onion becomes translucent and fragrant, about 3-5 minutes

2. Add ground beef, and cook until browned. Add tomatoes, garlic, jalapeño, rosemary, oregano, salt and pepper, and fresh basil

 

 

3. Bring pot to a boil, and then bring heat down to a low simmer. Cover and cook for 1-4 hours, depending on how much time you have. I cooked my sauce for about 4 hours in total. The longer the oven stays on, and the longer it cooks, the more the sauce will reduce in volume