Mmm Monday: Pasta Bolognese

Mmm Monday has actually been moved to Wednesday, but old habits die hard and I just can't help but do a Mmm Monday post.  So I guess I'll just have to the laughing stock of the town and suffer with being 2 days ahead of schedule.  I think I can deal with it.

Anyway, this week I'm going to share the recipe for pasta bolognese.  This was originally printed in the March 2008 issue of Parenting.  I am a terrible cook, so there won't be any original My Precious Pennies creations anytime soon.  I have enough trouble following detailed directions...I'm pretty sure if I were to get "creative" the night would end with the fire department visiting.  So I stick with recipes, and the simpler the better...!

Ingredients
1 tbs olive oil
2 carrots, peeled & chopped (I use baby carrots and just eyeball it)
1lb lean ground turkey OR beef
28oz crushed tomatoes
12oz bag of pasta (the recipe calls for wide noodles, but just about any kind of pasta works)

1. Heat oil over medium heat.  Add carrots (or any other veggies you want) and cook for 5 minutes until softened.  Add ground meat to skillet.  DO NOT DRAIN.
2. Cook until meat is brown and cooked through.  Stir in tomatoes and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15 - 20 minutes.
3. While the sauce simmers, prepare the pasta as directed on the package.  Dump your sauce over your finished pasta, and serve!
   

We've made this for dinner twice so far...the first time I made it, and last week my husband took over since I was battling the plague from hell.  Well, he made the mistake of draining the meat, and the result was that it was EXTREMELY dry and we had no pasta sauce to speak of, so it's of utmost importance that you do not drain the meat. 

If you haven't noticed by now, all of my favorite recipes are flexible in that you can add whatever your favorite veggies are, or just whatever you have on hand.  My husband and I are polar opposites in the vegetable department - I need to have some sort of veggie with every meal, and he would just be fine without any vegetables whatsoever all week.  The compromise that I we have decided on is that veggies are fine as long as they are not the main focus of the meal (read: as long as they are hidden).  Pasta bolognese is great for that because I can grind whatever veggies I want into little pieces and they're very well hidden by the meat.  It's a great recipe for kids (probably why it was in Parenting magazine), or for picky husbands.