The inspiration for my nutrients packed, gluten-free turkey spaghetti Bolognese recipe came from a traditional Italian pasta dish. It is much quicker to make than the original version and I’d love to share it with you.
Jump to RecipeGluten-free, Dairy-free, Lactose-free, Soy-free
How do you make the sauce?
Firstly, I have to say that this pasta sauce is one of the easiest pasta sauces you’ll ever make.
It requires a bit of chopping but once that’s done, it is all about adding the ingredients to the pan and stirring them. Trust me, it as simple as that! The sauce freezes very well, so I always make a bigger batch and freeze some of it for later.
What ingredients I used for the sauce?
This dish is traditionally made with slow-cooked beef.
I stay away from red meat and there was no way I would miss out on this dish. So I had to find a substitute and adapt it a bit.
Organic minced turkey and organic minced chicken work both very well, and I chose minced turkey in this recipe.
For some added health benefits, I enriched the classic meat sauce with onions, carrots celery, tomatoes and white button mushrooms, and flavoured it with some dried and fresh herbs.
How do you serve this dish?
This moreish sauce served with al dente cooked pasta, and topped with a dairy-free parmesan and fresh basil leaves, is my ultimate comfort food. It’s probably my most favourite pasta dish of all time.
Hope you you enjoy my gluten-free turkey spaghetti Bolognese too!
Note:
I would recommend using fresh basil leaves only when you eat this dish at the end of each cycle or when the chemo treatments have ended. If you’re just half way through your cycle or your immunity is low, leave the basil out as it might contain some residue with bacteria.
In all cases, make sure you wash all your basil leaves thoroughly.
Gluten-free turkey spaghetti Bolognese
Ingredients
- 2 banana shallots or any onion, peeled
- 1 leek, peeled
- 2 celery stalks, preferably organic
- 1 big or 3 medium-size carrots, preferably organic, peeled
- 250 g white button mushrooms, preferably organic
- 3 cloves garlic, peeled
- 1 tsp tomato puree
- 250 g organic minced turkey, (or organic minced chicken)
- 1 bottle Passata, approx. 690g, preferably in a glass jar
- 1 and 1/2 Tbsp dried Provencal herbs
- a bunch of fresh parsley
- 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Himalayan pink salt and pepper for seasoning
Garnish for 1 portion:
- 80 g brown rice spaghetti
- couple of cavolo nero leaves (or Swiss chard or spinach)
- couple basil leaves, (optional and only when the chemo treatments have ended)
- a pinch Himalayan pink salt
- a pinch of celery seeds
- 1 tsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp ground almonds
- a pinch of cayenne pepper, (optional and only when the chemo treatments have ended)
Instructions
- Wash all your vegetables thoroughly and clean the mushrooms.
- Chop the carrot, celery and onion into similar size pieces and finely chop the garlic and shallots. Slice the leek and mushrooms into smaller pieces.
- Pour the olive oil into a large, deep saucepan, heat it up over medium-low heat and after a minute or so add the chopped shallots, carrot and celery. Cover with a lid, lower the heat to low and cook for about 4-5 minutes, stirring occasionally, making sure that nothing sticks to the pan. We’re essentially preparing soffritto, which is a base of lots of Italian dishes as it creates tons of flavour.
- As soon as the vegetables start to soften add the minced turkey. Cook it on low heat until it changes its colour from pink to brown, making sure you break it into smaller pieces as it cooks. Add the garlic, herbs and tomato puree, mix it well with the meat and vegetables and cook for further 2 minutes.
- Pour in the passata together with 1.5 – 2 cups of cold water, stir well and increase the heat to medium. Once the sauce starts boiling lower the heat to the low, season with the salt and pepper, cover with a lid and cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the mushrooms and chopped parsley, stir again and cook for 10 more minutes.
- For the dairy-free parmesan, crush the celery seeds and salt in a mortar until it’s fine, add the nutritional yeast and gently combine it with the mixture. Add the ground almonds and combine them very gently with the mixture. Remove the stalks from the cavolo nero, chop it roughly, add it to the sauce and cook it covered for 2-3 minutes or until it’s soft.
- Mix the spaghetti with the sauce, sprinkle them with the dairy-free parmesan and a little bit of cayenne pepper (only when the treatments have ended) and top with some basil leaves.
