Lighter options: Turkey and courgette bolognese

It’s been a hectic week of rushed meals and dinners on-the-run. Tonight, all I wanted to do was to enjoy a lovely simple meal on the sofa in front of some trashy tv.

Bolognese felt like a  great option after a very busy Thursday, so I chose to substitute traditional beef mince with a pack of turkey mince I had in the fridge that I’d intended for something else.

Turkey mince is a much better alternative to beef mince, apparently; it’s lower in fat, cholesterol, and higher in protein. It also just tastes lighter and less ‘meaty’. Another bonus is that it can sometimes be found at a cheaper or comparable price, too. It ticks every box.

To up the nutritional value, Mr Q sliced a whole courgette into ribbons and we added this to the mix:

Turkey and courgette bolognese

500g turkey mince
Two 400g cans of chopped tomatoes
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tbs tomato puree
1 whole courgette, cut into thin ribbons
A handful of fresh basil
4 cloves of garlic
3/4 cup chicken stock

Brown and drain any fat from the mince in a fry pan.
Add garlic and oregano along with the cans of chopped tomato, puree and stock, then simmer for 20 minutes.
Add courgette and cook for a further 10 minutes.
Before serving, add the chopped basil and season to taste.

Serve with your choice of pasta. In our case, we used a mix of penne and fusili from the back of the pantry.

I’d love to have a go at using this basic turkey mince recipe instead of heavy beef mince in a lasagne for a nice change. It’s a great summer-y compromise.

We’ll definitely be using more turkey mince whenever we can!