Giadas Vegetable Bolognese Recipes

SIMPLE BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• In a large skillet heat the olive oil. When almost smoking, add the onion and garlic and saute over medium heat until the onions become very soft, about 8 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and saute for 5 minutes. Raise heat to high and add the ground beef. Saute, stirring frequently and breaking up any large lumps and cook until meat is no longer pink, about 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley and basil and cook over medium low heat until the sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper. This will take approximately 1/2 hour. Finish bolognese with Pecorino Romano.

SPICY LAMB BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• Heat a medium Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the butter and oil and warm until the butter is melted. Add the carrots, celery, onions and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are soft but have no color, about 6 minutes. Add the beef and lamb and cook, breaking apart the meat with a wooden spoon, until the meat is cooked through and no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Stir the tomato paste, chili paste, red pepper flakes and garlic into the meat mixture. Cook the tomato paste, stirring often, about 2 minutes. Add the milk. Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the milk is almost entirely evaporated, about 20 minutes.
• Add the wine, bay leaf, Parmesan rind, tomatoes and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to low to just maintain a gentle simmer. Simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Skim the oil from the surface.
• Spoon the sauce over the Creamy Polenta with Spinach, reserving any extra to serve on the side. Serve with the Parmesan sprinkled over the top and a drizzle of olive oil.
• In a Dutch oven, bring the chicken broth, oil, garlic and 1 1/2 cups water to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low and whisk in the polenta. Season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. Stir in the Parmesan, mascarpone, pecorino and butter. Cook, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Fold in the spinach and cook until wilted, about 5 minutes longer. Add 1/4 cup water if the mixture gets too thick.
• Pour the polenta onto a large board or platter. Serve with grated Parmesan over the top.

SIMPLE BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• In a 6 quart pot, add extra-virgin olive oil. When almost smoking, add the onion and garlic and saute over medium heat until the onions become very soft, about 8 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and saute for 5 minutes. Raise heat to high and add the ground beef. Saute, stirring frequently and breaking up any large lumps and cook until meat is no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley and basil and cook over medium low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1/2 hour. Finish bolognese with Pecorino Romano. Check for seasoning.
• Serve hot.

RIGATONI WITH GREENS

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta and cook until just short of al dente, 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 1/4 cups of the pasta water.
• Meanwhile, heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chickpeas and cook, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until golden brown and crispy, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, chile flakes and capers and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Stir in the Swiss chard and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cook until wilted, 3 minutes. Add 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water and simmer for 1 minute. Add the drained pasta and sprinkle with 1 1/2 cups of the Parmesan and the lemon zest; toss well to coat. Add 1 cup more of the reserved pasta water and the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil. Simmer until the pasta is al dente, the sauce has thickened and the flavors have come together, 2 minutes. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan and serve.

BISON BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• Heat a medium Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and the ground bison. Cook, breaking apart the meat into very small pieces with a wooden spoon until the meat is lightly browned, about 8 minutes. Add the carrot, red onion and garlic to the pan and stir to combine. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and cook for 3 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and fragrant. Deglaze with the white wine, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan with the wooden spoon. Simmer for 5 minutes or until almost completely reduced. Stir in the hand crushed tomatoes and nestle in the Parmesan rind and basil. Season with the remaining salt. Reduce the heat the medium and simmer the sauce, stirring occasionally for 25 minutes.
• Meanwhile bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Season generously with salt. Add the pasta to the water and cook for 2 minutes less than directed, about 6 minutes. Using tongs, add the pasta directly from the pasta water to the sauce. Add the Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese directly to the bare pasta along with the butter. Toss the pasta with the sauce to coat, thinning as needed with the pasta water to ensure it clings to the pasta. Serve drizzled with more olive oil and sprinkled with more Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese if desired.

TURKEY BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a heavy large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the carrot and celery and saute until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the turkey and saute 1 minute. Add the marinara sauce. Decrease the heat to medium-low and simmer gently for 15 minutes to allow the flavors to blend, stirring often. Stir in the basil. Season the sauce, to taste, with salt and pepper. (The sauce can be made 1 week ahead. Cool the sauce completely, then transfer it to a container and freeze for future use. Bring the sauce to a simmer before using.)
• Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring often, about 8 minutes. Drain, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the sauce and toss to coat, adding enough reserved cooking liquid to moisten as needed. Serve with the Parmesan.

VEGETARIAN BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a saucepan and gently fry the onion, carrots and celery until the onion is starting to soften. Stir in the garlic and the Quorn (there's no need to defrost it) and fry for a couple of mins. Add the bay leaf, passata, vegetable stock cube and 200ml water, then bring everything to the boil.
• Turn down the heat and simmer for 30 mins or until all the pieces of veg are tender and disappearing into the tomato sauce. Add the milk, then cover with a lid and cook for 10 mins. Season to taste. If the sauce is a bit thin, keep bubbling until it thickens. Stir through the basil. Serve with the spaghetti and grate the cheese over the top, if you like. Can be frozen into portions and reheated.

VEGETARIAN BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter with the olive oil over medium-high. When foaming, add the onion, carrots and cauliflower, season with 1 teaspoon salt and a few pepper grinds. Cook, stirring just once or twice, until browned and juicy, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the tomato paste, soy sauce and garlic and cook, stirring and smashing the vegetables, until the tomato paste is a shade darker and sticks to the bottom of the pot, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the milk and bay leaf, season with salt and pepper, reduce heat to low, and stir to combine, scraping up browned bits from the pot. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the milk has thickened slightly and the vegetables are very soft, 15 to 20 minutes. (At first the pan will look dry, then the vegetable liquid will thin the sauce and it will thicken slightly).
• Halfway through cooking the sauce, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta water and drain. If the sauce is ready before the pasta, remove sauce from heat and keep covered.
• Remove the bay leaf from the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Increase heat to medium-high. Add the pasta, 1/2 cup pasta water, the Parmesan and the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Stir vigorously until the pasta is well coated, adding more pasta water as needed until the sauce is glossy. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve with more grated Parmesan on top.

GIADA'S SIMPLE BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• In a 6 quart pot, add extra-virgin olive oil. When almost smoking, add the onion and garlic and saute over medium heat until the onions become very soft, about 8 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and saute for 5 minutes. Raise heat to high and add the ground beef. Saute, stirring frequently and breaking up any large lumps and cook until meat is no longer pink, about 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes, parsley and basil and cook over medium low heat until the sauce thickens, about 1/2 hour. Finish bolognese with Pecorino Romano. Check for seasoning. Serve hot.