Everyday Veggie-Loaded Ragu { gf, dairy-free, paleo option }
Does the internet really need another 'spaghetti sauce' recipe? For a year and half since I started this blog, the answer to myself was consistently NO. Yet here it is.
Instead of seeing it as too pedestrian to be blog-worthy, I now see it as invariably delicious, nourishing and actually an excellent representation of how we eat hence what I like to bring to the blog. A ragù (an Italian term) is a sauce made with ground meat and vegetables typically served on pasta. This is my take on the ubiquitous dish. My version is uncomplicated yet deliberate in ingredients to maximize both taste and nutrition. It is beloved in my universe (my family). It is tried, test and true.
The sauce is perfect to eat the day you make it. A just reward, after smelling the aromas while it simmers on the stove! It is also optimal for freezing and pulling out for a quick and hearty meal when you don't want to cook. That's why I scale the recipe for extra portions. And if you're clever like me, you take a portion and spin it into a different but equally praised dish, this 'Lasagna with Cashew Bechemel', in no time at all [full recipe post for that is coming to the blog soon]. For Paleo-friendly serving suggestions, serve it over zoodles (massive yum!), spaghetti squash or halved roasted sweet potatoes.
NOTES + TIPS - EVERYDAY VEGGIE-LOADED RAGU:
My ragù recipe has evolved over the years, resulting in this fine-tuned version incorporating the following guidelines that strike my ideal balance of taste, nutrition and our eating goals:
LOAD 'EM UP. I put significantly more veggies than a classic ragù which is more meat than veg. I aim for at least 50/50 ratio of veggies to meat. Actually, the veggies in my recipe out-weigh the meat by more than 25% when I actually got the scale out and measured it once. Sounds like a lot, yes, and we love it. The mushrooms, carrots, onions, celery and zucchini all contribute their own notes in the resulting symphony of flavors. Not to mention tons of nutrition, which is uber important to me. Maximizing the veg-to-meat ratio also means we consume less meat overall - something I'm striving for.
LAY THE FLAVOR FOUNDATION. Using a quality, store-bought marinara sauce effortlessly adds flavor. I look for glass-jarred sauces with no additives or preservatives. Rao's 'marinara' and 'tomato basil' sauces are my go-to (not sponsored, just love). If you have an excellent glass-jarred organic tomato sauce to recommend to me, please do! I'm still searching as the organic ones I've tried so far lack in the taste department.
ADDRESS THE ACIDITY. Unless you're using nonna's strained tomatoes from the peak of last summer, most tomato-based sauces are naturally tart. I tackle that on three levels:
lots of carrots to add natural sweetness
a touch of honey (or raw cane sugar if you prefer) and
creaminess added at the end via a small amount of dairy-free unsweetened almond milk or cashew cream which you cannot taste in the final sauce but goes a long way to round out the flavor (can use whole milk if dairy intolerance is not an issue)
MAKE THE MOST OF MUSHROOMS.
white button mushrooms will absolutely do the job but why not add umami by using a mix of creminis and portobellos. You can also toss in a few king, chanterelle, shiitake or dried porcini mushrooms to enhance the mix if you roll fancy like that.
please take the extra step of browning mushrooms first to bring out their flavor. Do not crowd them and do not salt them until the end or they will release water and steam in their own juices, not brown, and there will be sadness (meaning I would be sad for you).
There are 6 whopping cups of chopped mushrooms in there. Both my daughters despise mushrooms and yet they love their mama's spaghetti sauce. I'm snickering at my sneakiness.
GET LEAN. Over the years I've moved away from ground beef or veal in favor of using ground chicken or turkey in my ragù. My personal bias is leaner and more sustainable meats for personal health and planet health, respectively. Beef and veal are the most taxing for the planet so I reserve beef consumption for the occasional splurge like a juicy steak with tons of marbling. If you're accustomed to the bolder flavor of beef, you can transition your tastebuds by throwing in an Italian sausage (pulled out of its casing) with the ground poultry for a 'meatier' taste, or use a combination of ground poultry / ground beef. By the way, amping up the mushroom flavors helps achieve that meatier taste too.
FOOD PROCESSOR VS. HAND-CHOP. Feel free to make use of your food processor fitted with the S-blade to do the heavy-lifting with all the vegetables. My husband actually prefers the texture of the sauce when I use the food processor to chop the carrots, onions, zucchini and mushrooms because it makes the sauce a little less chunky. Especially if feeding kids who may object to certain veggies, this might be a good approach! Still go for a small dice and do them in batches taking care not to overload the food processor vessel to get more uniform outcome.
Lastly, this recipe makes a lot of sauce! About 4.5 Quarts or 18 cups of it. It is scaled for 3 meals feeding 4 (or a large group of 12) so two family portions can be frozen for use another day and/or some individual lunch portions too. See freezing instructions in "Make in Advance" section below. I make this recipe once every 3 weeks and don't see a point in making a smaller batch given the economies of scale and how versatile it is. You can serve it on pasta (as I did in the images) or on zucchini noodles (my fav) or other spiralized veggie, spaghetti squash, roasted sweet potatoes, or turn it into lasagna, etc.
I guarantee you won't be mad at your clever self for making the full recipe and having a stash of this in your freezer too.
MAKE IN ADVANCE: Freezes wonderfully. Place extra portions in freezer-safe containers or zip-top freezer bags, label it and store frozen for up to 2 months. I often freeze individual lunch portions too. To use, thaw overnight in the fridge and reheat on the stove top making sure you bring it all the way to a nice boil.
MEAT SUBSTITUTION: You may use another ground meat of choice instead of ground poultry. See my thoughts in the head notes above under "Get Lean".
Everyday Veggie-Loaded Ragù
{ gluten-free, dairy-free, paleo option served on zoodles, spaghetti squash, etc }
Recipe makes about 4.5 Quarts (18 cups) of veg + meat sauce. This recipe is scaled to make a batch enough for 3 meals (serving 4 people each sitting) or a large group of 12. See freezing instruction under Make In Advance above.
INGREDIENTS
2/3 lb cremini mushrooms, cleaned and small diced (about 4C)
1/3 lb portobello, cleaned, gills scraped off with spoon and small diced (about 2C)
3 medium carrots, peeled and fine diced (about 2C)
1 large onion, fine diced (about 1.5C)
2 celery stalks, fine diced (about 1C)
1 small zucchini, fine diced (about 1C)
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 lbs ground turkey or ground chicken
1 tbsp dried oregano
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 C dry red wine like Cabernet Sauvignon, Sangiovese, Shiraz etc (sub with broth or water if strict Paleo)
3 jars of good quality marinara sauce (680ml per jar or about 8.5 Cups) (I use Rao's)
2 bay leaves
1/3C unsweetened almond milk or milk of choice (or more to taste)
1 tbsp honey (or more to taste)
Kosher salt + ground black peppercorn
Ghee or avocado oil or other cooking fat of your choice
METHOD
1. Heat a heavy-bottomed fairly large Dutch oven (at least 6-7 Quart) over medium-high heat. Have ready a very large bowl; large enough to park all the sauteed veggies after sauteeing (from steps 2 and 3 below).
2. Once very hot, add 1 tbsp of cooking fat and add about half the diced mushrooms. Saute and allow it to brown. Set aside. Add another tbsp of cooking fat and saute the remaining mushrooms. Doing it in batches avoids over-crowding and enables the mushrooms to brown properly. Once browned, season with salt and set aside in the large bowl. Back on medium-high heat, add another tbsp of cooking fat and saute the onions. Season with 1/2 tsp kosher salt right away to encourage carmalization. Keep moving it around. When onions are just turning transparent, add the garlic, carrots, celery and zucchini along with another 1/2 tsp of kosher salt and continue to saute for a few minutes or veggies are just starting to soften. Set aside in the same large bowl holding the sauteed mushrooms.
3. Next, add 1 tbsp of cooking fat and brown the the ground meat in 4 additions, adding 1/2 lb to the pot each time and adding more cooking fat sparingly as needed. As the first batch cooks through and browns just a bit around the edges, push it to the side and add the next batch of ground meat. Continue until done. Season the ground meat with about 1.5 to 2 tsp of kosher salt (I use Diamon Crystal kosher salt, adjust less if using different brand), and fresh ground black peppercorn.
4. To the pot holding the browned meat, clear a spot in the middle and add the dried oregano and the tomato paste. Allow both to develop their flavors from the dry heat for a minute before mixing it up with the meat. Add the red wine and cook off the alcohol by simmering it for a minute. Add all the veggies back in. Add all 3 jars of tomato sauce and the bay leaves into the pot and bring to a boil. Taste now and add salt as needed (amount depends on the salt content of your tomato sauce, brand of kosher salt, and your taste of course). Turn down to a simmer and cook with the lid on for at least 30 minutes or up to a few hours, stirring occasionally to avoid burning the bottom.
5. Before serving, add unsweetened almond milk (or milk of your choice) and honey. Taste for tartness and add more of either / both to your liking. Serve over gluten-free pasta as pictured or other starch or vegetable like zoodles or spaghetti squash for a complete paleo-friendly meal. Whatever you chooose, don't forget the dried red pepper flakes and fresh basil. Pepperoncini is also ideal!