One Pot Pasta Bolognese

Ingredients

• Bacon

  Raw, cured pork

  4 strip or 48g

• Onions

  Raw

  1 medium or 110g

• Celery

  Raw

  2 stalk, small or 34g

• Garlic

  Raw

  4 cloves, minced or 12g

• Salt

  Table

  1 dash or 0.4g

• Pepper

  Spices, black

  1 dash or 0.1g

• Ground beef

  80% lean meat / 20% fat, raw

  24 oz or 680g

• Chili powder

  Spices

  1 tsp or 3g

• Tomato paste

  Canned, without salt added

  4 tbsp or 64g

• Tomatoes

  Crushed, canned

  4 cup or 960g

• Chicken broth

  Soup, canned, less/reduced sodium

  2 cup or 480g

• Thyme

  Fresh

  4 tsp or 3g

• Spaghetti

  Dry pasta, enriched

  16 oz or 454g

• Reduced fat milk

  Fluid, 2% milkfat, with added vitamin a and vitamin d

  4 tbsp or 61g

• Parmesan cheese

  Shredded

  4 tbsp or 20g

• Basil

  Fresh

  4 tbsp, chopped or 11g

Directions

1. Warm a Dutch oven or large deep skillet over medium heat. Cook the chopped bacon until lightly crisp and fat renders. Add onion, celery, and garlic; season with salt, pepper, and chili powder. Cook, stirring, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the ground beef and cook, breaking it up with a spoon, until browned and no longer pink, 5–10 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, chicken broth, and thyme.
3. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a steady simmer and cover for 5 minutes. Uncover, remove thyme sprigs if used, add the spaghetti (break in half if needed to submerge), and simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking, until pasta is tender and the sauce has thickened, about 12–15 minutes.
4. Stir in the milk, Parmesan, and basil. Taste and adjust salt, pepper, or chili powder as needed. Serve hot, garnished with extra basil if desired.