Spaghetti Bolognese

Slimming Eats Recipe

Serves 4

Green – 1.5 syns per serving (substitute beef with quorn or lentils)

Original – 1.5 syns per serving (without pasta)

Extra Easy – 1.5 syns per serving

Ingredients

• 400g extra lean minced beef
• 3 slices of lean back bacon/Canadian bacon
• 1 large sweet onion, chopped finely
• 1 carrot, chopped finely
• 1 stalk of celery, chopped finely
• 6 large button mushrooms, chopped finely
• 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 250ml of passata
• 125ml of red wine (4.5 syns) (or replace this with more passata to keep syn free)
• 600ml of beef stock
• fresh thyme, oregano and rosemary
• 2 tablespoons of tomato puree
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce
• Frylight/Pam spray
• 320g of whole wheat spaghetti
• salt and pepper
• fresh basil or parsley, to serve

Method

Spray a frying pan with Frylight or Pam spray. Add the bacon and cinnamon and cook for approx 5 mins until golden.

Add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery and some of the fresh herbs, add a little bit of the beef stock and cook for about 8-10 mins until the vegetables are softened. Add some more stock if needed.

Add the extra lean beef mince, and cook until browned breaking up any large lumps with the back of the spoon.

Add the remaining stock, wine, passata, tomato puree and mushrooms and season with salt and pepper.

Bring to the boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer on a low heat covered for approx 1-1.5 hours

When the meat mixture is almost ready, add the pasta to a large saucepan of boiling hot water and cook to liking.

Drain the water and add meat mixture to the spaghetti and mix thoroughly.

Divide among 4 plates and top with some fresh chopped basil or parsely

If you have a HEa spare you can top with some parmesan cheese.

TIP: Want to turn this into chilli con carne for the next day? If you are only using half the recipe for spaghetti bolognese, then the next day fry some red and green pepper with 2 jalapeno peppers, add this to the mixture, along with some cumin, paprika and 1 tin of kidney beans and a little more passata or chopped tomatoes and you have a quick chilli con carne.

The recipe above has been calculated for Slimming World, however for those of you following the Weight Watchers plan or another calorie controlled type diet. Below is the approx nutritional information:

Approx NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION
per serving
Calories	539
Fat	8.7g
Saturated Fat	2.2g
Total Carbohydrate	72.5g
Dietary Fibre	2.3g
Sugars	4.1g
Protein	41.1g

Filed under: beef, below 2 syns, Extra Easy, main course, Original, pasta