Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce / Gail Ingram Photography
Have a Sunday afternoon free? Try making Healthy Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce with Veggies Galore. It’s a family-friendly dish you can prep over the weekend and enjoy the leftovers during the week.
Traditional Bolognese sauce is exceptionally meat-heavy but I’ve found you can drastically reduce the meat, mix in some meaty-textured tempeh (which happens to be a super healthy fermented “whole” soy food rich in probiotics) and add tons of vegetables yet still end up with an incredibly rich-tasting, full-flavored sauce. One of the biggest secrets to making sensational Bolognese is to let it cook long and slow…believe it or not, using more meat doesn’t really add more flavor.
Another secret is the pine nut “cream”, which takes all of 45 seconds to make but contributes substantially to the rich, full-bodied end result (note: a lot of Bolognese sauce recipes call for heavy cream or milk but for health reasons I don’t like to cook with either one; nut-based “creams” are a far healthier and “cleaner” option.)
Oh! And be sure to layer your salt and pepper as you go along. You never want to dump all the salt and pepper in your sauce all at once…you just won’t get the best flavor.
Healthy Crockpot Recipes Can Be Super Tasty If You Learn a Trick or Two
Like all appliances, a crockpot has its own distinct way of doing things, so you need to understand how the appliance works and adapt your recipe accordingly.
I really think the biggest misconception with making healthy crockpot recipes is that you can toss all of your ingredients into the crockpot, switch the “ON” button on, and walk away. It’s true your food will cook this way, but it doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily end up with the best-tasting food!
While the slow cooker will save you pot-watching time (yes, once you turn it on you can in fact walk away) the best-tasting healthy crockpot recipes will be the ones that are prepared with proper cooking techniques. One of the most important tips to making healthy crockpot recipes that taste incredible is to soften the vegetables by sautéing before you put them in the slow cooker.
Sautéing and softening your vegetables begins the process of caramelization, which breaks down the natural sugars in foods and deepens their flavor. You’ll notice in the recipe for my Healthy Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce below that the directions call for sautéing the vegetables first—don’t skip this part (it only takes an extra 10-minutes at most.) And don’t forget to layer your salt and pepper too!
Healthy Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce with Veggies Galore
Serves: 8
This recipe takes about 30-minutes of hands-on time to assemble but is so well worth it and makes a lot of servings. Although the ingredients call for 1/2 pound of grass fed beef the recipe serves at least 8 people, so each serving only has approximately 1 ounce of meat (the meat is really more like a condiment used as a flavor-enhancer.)
By the way, leftovers freeze incredibly well. You can serve this Healthy Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce over whatever pasta you like, but I especially love whole wheat rigatoni (and a simple side salad of arugula with a drizzle of cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil or black truffle oil and a squirt or two of fresh lemon juice.)
- ¼ cup pine nuts
- 2 tablespoons plus 3 teaspoons cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil, divided
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 large shallots, finely chopped
- 5 large carrots, finely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
- 2 large zucchini, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- “Real Salt” or Himalayan salt, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- ½ pound (8 ounces) grass-fed ground beef
- 8 ounces crumbled tempeh (such as Light Life brand)
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ cup red wine
- 1 small can (6 ounces) organic tomato paste
- 1 can (15-ounces) organic tomato sauce
1. Put the pine nuts in a high speed blender or mini food processor and add ¼ cup plus 1 tablespoon water; process until smooth and creamy. Set pine nut “cream” aside.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons oil in a large heavy skillet over medium-heat. Add the garlic and shallots and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes, or until shallots are soft. Add the carrots, bell pepper and zucchini and sauté for 5 to 6 minutes, or until vegetables soften. Season with oregano and salt and pepper to taste. Transfer vegetables to a 5 or 6 quart slow cooker.
3. Add the remaining teaspoon of oil to the “dirty” skillet used to cook the vegetables and heat over medium-high; add the ground beef and ground tempeh to the skillet. Season beef-tempeh mixture with garlic powder and salt and pepper to taste; cook until meat is no longer pink. Pour the wine into the skillet and cook until liquid evaporates. Stir in the pine nut cream, tomato paste and tomato sauce, season with additional salt and pepper to taste and simmer for 5 minutes. Transfer the meat mixture to the slow cooker along with the vegetables. Gently stir the meat and vegetables together. Cook on high for 2 ½ to 3 hours or on low for 5 or 6 hours. Let Bolognese sit 30 minutes before serving. Serve warm.
Hi Holly! Thank you so much for the kind words and positive feedback, it is greatly appreciated! If you don’t have issues with wheat or gluten I wouldn’t go for the gluten-free pasta’s because most that i have seen are not as nutritious as the whole wheat ones. The 50/50 flour is ok, but not the best either. the gold standard is definitely the sprouted pasta.
Here is the lasanga recipe I keep meaning to put on website…
Garden Lasagna with “Ricotta” Cream
Serves: 6-8
Often made with heaps of beef-based sauce and a mixture of ooey-gooey cheeses, traditional lasagna isn’t exactly “Clean Cuisine.” But let’s be real here; lasagna tastes GOOD! With this recipe, which is 95% vegan, and a few tricks up my sleeve, you’ll get all the taste and satisfaction of lasagna minus the guilt. Roasting thin lasagna noodle-like strips of zucchini is one easy step that goes a long way to bringing out the natural sweetness of any vegetable—and cutting the vegetables into thin strips helps the zucchini take the place of pasta, thus giving you more veggie nutritional oomph. The rich and creamy “ricotta” cream seals the deal. You won’t believe its vegan and when you see what goes into making it you won’t believe it can taste good. But it does. It’s beyond good. And the very best part of this dish is leftovers! P.S. I realize lasagna recipes can be a bit overwhelming when you read them but really, if you break it down into simple steps making lasagna is incredibly easy. I’ve listed the shopping list/ ingredients first and then break down the steps—hope this makes it easy to understand?
Ingredients:
• 3 zucchini
• Cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
• Unrefined sea salt, to taste
• 3 large handfuls organic baby spinach leaves
• 4 ounce organic firm tofu
• 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/3 cup raw cashews
• 1 clove garlic
• 3 cups good quality prepared marinara or “Clean Cuisine” homemade marinara on page ____
• 9 whole wheat lasagna noodles
• ½ cup organic shredded mozzarella cheese
Step 1: Prep the Vegetables & Noodles
• 9 whole wheat lasagna noodles
• 3 zucchini, cut lengthwise into very thin strips
• Cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
• Unrefined sea salt, to taste
• 3 large handfuls organic baby spinach leaves
1. Soak the noodles in hot tap water for 10 minutes. Drain and pat dry with towels. Set aside.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly brush the zucchini strips with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place zucchini on a large baking sheet and roast for 15 minutes. Remove zucchini from oven and set aside to cool.
3. Place spinach leaves on a large plate and put in the microwave on high for 2 minutes to wilt. Set aside.
Step 2: Make the “ Ricotta” Cream
• 4 ounces organic firm tofu, pressed well into a towel to remove as much moisture as possible
• 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
• 1/8 teaspoon unrefined salt
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/3 cup raw cashews
• 3 tablespoons water (plus more if you want a thinner cream)
• 1 garlic clove
1. Place all ingredients in a high speed blender; process for 1 full minute, or until smooth and creamy. Set aside.
Step 3: Assemble the Lasagna:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Spread 1 cup of marinara sauce on the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish. Arrange 3 noodles over the sauce.
3. Spread 1/2 cup of marinara sauce on top of the noodles. Spread the steamed spinach on top. Spoon ½ of the “Ricotta” cream on top of the spinach.
4. Spread ½ cup marinara sauce on top. Arrange 3 noodles over the sauce. Spread ½ cup marinara on top of the noodles.
5. Layer the zucchini on top of the noodles. Spoon the remaining “Ricotta” cream on top of the noodles. Spread ½ cup marinara sauce on top of the noodles. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.
6. Bake, uncovered, for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, gently tilt casserole and drain any excess liquid. Set lasagna aside to cool and “set” for at least 15-minutes before serving. Serve warm.
Hi Ivy, I was looking for a healthy lasagna recipe and I was wondering if you had one or if you had one in your 30 meal plan or in your new cook book. Also, what brand and what kind of pasta do you recommend? I haven’t tried any of the sprouted pasta’s yet because I was affraid I wouldn’t like it. And do you think the gluten free pasta are a healthy choice? And what about the Hodgsons Mill 50/50 flour if’s part whole wheat part white do you thinlk that would still be o.k. Thanks, you guys are the real deal. I come across so much stuff on the inter-net on health and other stuff and they all want money for everything. I can tell you guys really want to help people. After all isn’t that what were all here on this planet to do or, should be trying to do to some degree??? God Bless.