Pasta Bolognese is my husband's favorite Italian dish. I never even heard of it until I met him but he has ordered it at every Italian restaurant we've ever been to. Now I'm a fan of this rich and tasty dish too, but I prefer mine without the pasta. Here's my version of Bolognese over baked sweet potato. Yum!
Preheat your oven to 350. Cut two sweet potatoes in half. Place cut side face up on a baking sheet and season with a little olive oil, salt and cayenne pepper. Bake for 60 - 75 minutes until potatoes become soft. While potatoes are baking you can make your Bolognese sauce.
Heat a frying pan and add 1 tablespoon of olive oil. When the oil is warm, add the onions and saute until slightly translucent and tender. When onions are soft, add the garlic and cook for another minute or two being extra careful not to burn the garlic. Then add your chopped tomatoes, oregano, cayenne and crushed red pepper flakes and cook on low until the tomatoes break down and a chunky sauce forms. I use an immersion blender to smooth out the sauce. Be sure to season as you go. You want the sauce to be spicy and slightly salty.
Heat another pan on high. When the pan is hot add the oil and bring the heat down to medium. Add ground turkey, salt, pepper, garlic powder and cook untl meat is cooked through.
Once the turkey is cooked, add the Bolognese sauce and give it a few good stirs.
Serve over 1/2 baked sweet potato. Garnish with fresh whole basil leaves.
Makes 4 servings.
Did you know that tomatoes become even more nutritious when they are cooked? Cooking tomatoes along with fat increases the bioavailability of the antioxidant lycopene. Lycopene is a cancer fighting phytochemical responsible for the tomato's red color. Even more of a reason to eat and enjoy your Bolognese. You're welcome!
With a vast drop in temperature, darker skies and rainy days, winter is the most yin of all the seasons. It is associated with the kidney and bladder organs, the color black, the element water, the emotion fear, and salty and bitter flavors.
Goji berries are one of the most well known Chinese herbs in the US. Used for over 2000 years in China, they were first mentioned in the Shen Nong Ben Cao Jing, the oldest known book on Chinese herbs in 200 BC. They are prized for their ability to tonify blood and yin without causing stagnation. Consumed daily in China as a food and herbal medicine, goji berries are revered for their anti-aging properties. They are used in many beauty tonics.
