Leo's Favorite Paleo Bolognese

My recipes and cooking style has definitely changed since having Leo but real whole foods with simple ingredients is still very much a priority. I refuse to make separate meals for my son (now 18 months old) as I do want him to enjoy a wide variety of textures, flavors and to ensure ample phytonutrient intake… but if I am being completely honest my main motivation for keeping meals simple is that I can not even fathom cooking or prepping 2 separate meals per night. Cooking or prepping meals for your family is enough work on its own! The only thing that has saved me from giving in to cooking an “adult meal” AND a seperate “kid meal “ each night is occasionally curtailing a meal or recipe so it is more appealing to Leo. This paleo bolognese is definitely not special or fancy but it does have simple tweaks and shortcuts to make it an easier weeknight meal and more enticing to toddlers! A food processor is not required but REALLY is a time saver for this recipe.

GATHER

1 pound grass-fed beef

1 package organic paleo or sugar free bacon

1 large onion, quartered

3-4 carrots, cut into thirds

3-4 celery stalks

3 garlic cloves, pealed and smashed

1 jar of Rao’s Sugar Free Marinara or 2 cans of plain diced tomatoes

1/2 cup full fat coconut or nut milk of choice

salt and pepper to taste

option to top with fresh grated Parmesan (this obviously makes it not paleo but still delicious)

MAKE

Preheat oven to 350F and cook your paleo bacon on parchment paper for about 15-20 minutes. Take care not to over cook the bacon as you will be adding it to the sauce for further cooking. You may also cook the bacon in a skillet if you wish.

While your bacon is cooking, add your onion, garlic, celery and carrot to food processor and pulse until all veggies are minced. A food processor is not required but does help cut down on time as I find my toddler prefers the veggies to be smaller versus larger pieces. If you do not have a food processor you can chop all your veggies with a knife until almost minced.

If your bacon is finished cooking or almost finished; remove the bacon pan from the oven briefly to pour 2-3 tbsp of the rendered bacon grease into your large skillet. If the bacon is not quite cooked through you may return the pan to the oven to finish, other wise remove the bacon and set aside.

Pour your minced veggies onto the large skillet with the bacon grease and saute over medium heat for 3-5 minutes or until fragrant and more tender. At this time you will begin to brown the ground beef. Make a “hole” out of the veggies in skillet by scooting the minced veggies to the sides and place your ground meat in the center and ground using a fork or potato smasher or whatever desired tool you like to use to break apart and brown the ground meat.

While your beef is browning you can place the barely cooked bacon into the food processor for a light pulse; no need to clean out the remnants of the minced veggies. I like to save a few pieces of bacon for breakfast (or to snack on while cooking) but you can use the entire package in the recipe and it would just be that much more flavorful.

Add the bacon pieces to the skillet with the ground beef and minced onions. Once the beef if browned, you will add in your jar of marinara. Turn to low heat and allow to simmer for 5- 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Lastly add in your milk or milk alternative and Parmesan if desired.

I think this recipe taste delicious with spaghetti squash in particular, but you can also serve it with your choice of noodle, gnocchi or risotto.