Frugal Food: Pasta Bolognese

September 8th, 2008

Filed under: Cavewife's Perspective, Frugal Food

The following is a guest post written by my wife, The Cavewife. She regularly writes here about what’s on her heart as a frugal stay-at-home mom.

One of the things I like to do in my spare time is to read parenting magazines. I love the different articles in the magazine, but the one thing that I love the most is checking out the family-friendly recipes. I’m always up for trying new recipes, especially for a picky toddler and husband who has a hard time eating vegetables. [Ed. note: It's not that I have a hard time, I just don't like them. :) ]

The latest recipe that I came across was for “Pasta bolognese,” which I found in the March 2008 issue of Parenting magazine. It is a simple family-friendly dish that even your older kids can help with. This recipe makes 4 servings and takes about 30 minutes to prepare.

Pasta Bolognese

Ingredients:

1 TBS Olive Oil
2 Carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped
1 LB Lean Ground Turkey or Beef
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
12-oz bag wide noodles, such as pappardelle, or fettuccine

Directions:

In a large nonstick skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add carrots and cook for about 5 minutes until softened. Add ground meat to skillet.
Cook (stirring and breaking up meat) until the meat is brown and cooked through, about 7 or 8 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
While the sauce simmers, prepare the pasta as directed on the package. Serve it topped with sauce.

Cost of Ingredients:

1 lb Ground Chuck	$ 1.98
28 oz can of Crushed Tomatoes	0.88
2 Carrots	0.10
12 oz pkg of Fettucine	0.80
Total Cost	$ 3.76

This recipe is easy to make and the great thing is you can sneak in vegetables and your kids won’t even notice the difference. It is similar to spaghetti. I have made this recipe twice and my daughter loved it, the first time I made it. The second time I made this recipe, I added chopped mushrooms (leftover in the fridge), diced fresh tomatoes (from my garden), basil, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. After spooning out the servings for my family, my husband and I added some Parmesan cheese, garlic, and crushed red pepper to our servings for a little kick.

As always I’m interested in hearing from you about what recipes that you have tried for your family. Feel free to leave me a comment sharing a recipe that you think my family would like.

Happy Cooking!