#ThankGoodness for Dolmio

When feeding a family it is essential that the meal is both delicious and full of goodness. As much as we would all love to be able to cook meals from scratch when you live in a busy family household it really is not always feasible. Thankfully on days when you need a helping hand you can rely on Dolmio to not only provide you with an authentic Italian sauce but one that is also full of goodness. The Dolmio bolognese sauce that I have used in this recipe is 100% natural. Check out the video below that shows you exactly what goes into each jar of Domlio Bolognese sauce.

Each jar contains at least 10 juicy tomatoes, tomato puree, half an onion, a tablespoon of sunflower oil, garlic, basil, herbs, a teaspoon of cornflour, a teaspoon of salt, a pinch of pepper, two teaspoons of beet sugar to taste, a squeeze of lemon juice and water. There are no artificial colours, flavours, preservatives or sweeteners so you know that when you feed your family a meal that uses the Dolmio sauce they are getting natural goodness. The sauce is so good it provides you with one of your daily recommended five a day!

Bolognese sauce is often purely associated with spaghetti or pasta. But I am going to show you that it is so much more. Bolognese sauce is such a versatile sauce that can be used to create a vast array of delicious, family friendly meals. It can be used in so many different ways there really is no fixed way to enjoy the sauce. Let your imagination and culinary creativity run free and use the Dolmio bolognese sauce as the base of so many amazing dishes.

In this post I am going to tell you how to prepare a full of vegetables bolognese base with the Dolmio original sauce. But I am also going to show you how you can transform the sauce into three different meals. All three are wholesome meals with three distinct flavours. I am going to show you that bolognese is anything but boring!

This is what I did…

Dolmio Bolognese - One Sauce, Three Distinct Meals

Ingredients

500g minced beef

1 x 500g jar of Dolmio Original Bolognese

1 onion, chopped

1 stick of celery, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1 red pepper, chopped

200g closed cup mushrooms, chopped

3 small carrots, grated

1 courgette, grated

Half jar of water

2tbsp tomato puree

Method

1 - Dry fry the minced beef in a large frying pan or saute pan for 2 minutes

2 - Add the onions, celery and garlic to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring regularly

3 - Add the peppers, mushrooms, grated carrots and grated courgettes to the pan, stir thoroughly and cook over a medium heat for 5 minutes

4 - Pour over the Dolmio Original Bolognese sauce, full the jar half way up with water, replace the lid and shake to get all of the delicious sauce out of the jar and pour into the pan, stir thoroughly and add the tomato puree

5 - Bring the sauce to the boil and leave to simmer for 15 minutes, this will give the sauce time to enrich all of the ingredients with the authentic flavours of Italy

Now you have your bolognese base. Now is the time to get creative! I am going to tell you my three favourite ways to use bolognese sauce, but as I said before it is such a versatile sauce you can create so many different dishes.

Spaghetti Bolognese

Ingredients

Bolognese sauce

Spaghetti

Parmesan cheese, grated

Method

Featuring the iconic bolognese dish is essential!

1 - Make the sauce as per the recipe above

2 - Boil a pan of salted water, add the spaghetti, approximately 75g per person and leave to simmer for 6 - 8 minutes, or until it is cooked al dente

3 - Once the spaghetti is cooked al dente, drain and return to the pan

Serve the bolognese sauce on a bed of spaghetti with a covering of grated Parmesan cheese.

Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients

Bolognese sauce

1 pepper per person, sliced in half and seeds removed

Parmesan cheese, grated

Spray oil

Method

1 - Make the sauce as per the recipe above

2 - Place the halved peppers in a microwavable dish and spray a covering of spray oil over the top

3 - Cook on full power in the microwave for 5 minutes

4 - Once the peppers are soft remove from the microwave and fill with the bolognese sauce

5 - Sprinkle cover a covering of Parmesan cheese and place under a high grill until the cheese has melted

These peppers can be enjoyed on their own or with a side salad.

Chilli Bolognese Pie

Ingredients

Bolognese sauce

1 x 400g tin of kidney beans

1 x 200g tin of sweetcorn

2tsp chilli powder

500g potatoes, thinly sliced

Parmesan cheese, grated

Method

1 - Make the bolognese sauce as directed above but at part 4 when you add the Dolmio sauce also add the kidney beans, sweetcorn and the chilli powder

2 - Continue making the sauce as per the bolognese recipe

3 - While the bolognese sauce is simmering bring a pan of salted water to the boil and add the slices of potato

4 - Simmer for 10 minutes before draining and returning to the pan

5 - Once the sauce is ready spoon into an oven proof dish

6 - Top with the slices of potato, sprinkle over some Parmesan cheese and place under a high grill until the cheese has melted and is starting to brown

This can also be served either as it is or with a fresh side salad of green leaves and a slice of garlic bread.

I hope that the three recipes that I have shared have shown you just how versatile the Dolmio Original Bolognese sauce is. For even more inspiration visit Dolmio's recipes. I will always keep a jar, in the cupboard and at the ready. A meal made with Dolmio will give you clean plates all round. We all know that happy tummies make happy kids and happy kids make happy parents! The goodness from each jar of Dolmio will give the whole family happy tummies!

Enjoy x

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Disclosure: This post is my entry into the Dolmio #ThankGoodness challenge sponsored by http://www.dolmio.co.uk/thankgoodness.aspx.

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