Valentine's Spaghetti Bolognese

Even though this is our first Valentine's Day as a married couple, we opted to do our traditional Valentine's spaghetti dinner with a few friends. Instead of celebrating our love on 2/14, we say that Valentine's is every day for us! (gag)

Since I first made the bolognese sauce, I've experimented some with the recipe and made a few tweaks. This week I used:

INGREDIENTS:

• 2.5lbs ground 85/15 beef
• 1lb lean ground turkey
• 2 x 28oz cans of crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups each of onions, carrots, and celery, chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS
The original recipe talks about browning this, then browning that, then combining and simmering for a few hours. To keep things simple, I use my food processor to chop the onions, carrots, and celery, then cook those in some olive oil for about 10 minutes.

In another pan, you can cook the ground beef and drain off the excess fat. Add the beef and turkey to the vegetable mix, stirring to separate the meat as it cooks. Once it is mostly cooked, add the sauce and stir for a few minutes as needed to keep the meat separated. If you want, add a few splashes of red or white wine. Salt and pepper to taste.

Then, simmer for 2 hours or more. The simmering is key in making the meat tender and adding depth to the tomatoes. I generally do this the day before, then re-heat the sauce for dinner. Serve over spaghetti and enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!