A healthy beef & lentil bolognese (2024)

FAQs

Is beef bolognese good for you? ›

Use lean mince (about 4% fat or less), a big handful of mushrooms and whole wheat pasta to enjoy a healthy bolognese that you can feel 100% good about. This meal provides 413 kcal, 23g protein, 55.9g carbohydrate (of which 10.1g sugars), 11.2g fat (of which 3.6g saturates), 12.1g fibre and 0.8g salt per portion.

You can still enjoy pasta if you have diabetes. But because it is high in carbohydrates, you'll need to adjust your portion size and/or choose healthier varieties, such as whole wheat or fortified pasta. Pasta substitutes like ancient grains or spiraled vegetables are also great options.

As far as its taste, it will have a meaty heartiness from the browned meats, a sweet tang from the rich tomatoes, as well as an herbal kick from the various Italian spices used. If you've ever enjoyed a pasta dish with meat and tomato-based sauce, it was likely a variation of a bolognese recipe.

Spaghetti is the noodle, not the noodle and sauce. Bolognese sauce is a meat-based tomato sauce used on cooked pasta. There is a lot of variety depending on who is making it. For some people this is what they mean when they say “spaghetti sauce).

Different name for the same thing! You'll find Bolognese made all sorts of ways all across Italy and all around the world, but essentially mince meat (usually beef, sometimes combined with pork or veal) in a tomato based sauce flavoured with herbs.

If you love pasta, there's no reason to cut it out from your diet, the experts say. It can be a great way to pack in vegetables, healthy fats from nuts, olive oil and pasta sauces, Linsenmeyer says. "It's fine to include in a regular diet as often as every day.

Reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring often, until mixture cooks down into a thick sauce, at least 3 hours but preferably 4 to 6 hours. Skim fat from the top of sauce if desired. Add more water if sauce is too thick. Taste and adjust seasonings before serving.

Even though both are considered meat sauces and are thusly chunky, ragù is more like a thick tomato sauce with recognizable bits of ground beef within it. Bolognese, though, is creamier and thicker because it is made with milk. It is not considered to be a tomato sauce.

In 1917, the wonderfully named Julia Lovejoy Cuniberti recommended dressing “macaroni or spaghetti” with the meat sauce in her book Practical Italian Recipes for American Kitchens. And thus “spaghetti bolognese” officially became a thing.

Why is it called Bolognese? ›

The Bolognese sauce is famous all around the world but in Italy, it is known as ragù. So why do we, foreigners, call it Bolognese sauce? It all happened during World War II when American soldiers passed through the city of Bologna and tried this sauce.

The Italians traditionally eat the Bolognese with tagliatelle, a flat strand egg pasta similar to fettuccine. You can use other flat ribbon pasta like papardelle or tripoline. I personally use this sauce with any and all pastas though. And I love mixing it with tube pastas like rigatoni or penne.

Processed meats can include ham, sausage, bacon, deli meats (such as bologna, smoked turkey and salami), hot dogs, jerky, pepperoni and even sauces made with those products.

It may sound like there's no way a dish like this could be a healthier option, but each serving has more protein than carbs and just 315 calories. That leaves room for freshly grated parmesan on top and a side salad or maybe roasted asparagus. Or maybe a second serving since the bolognese is packed with veggies anyway!

Many brands not only contain plenty of fat like vegetable oil, but also come with a good slug of added sugar and salt too. This is because using lots of tomatoes and fresh herbs and seasoning to make a sauce is expensive.