Italian Sausage Bolognese

5 from 1 vote

Italian Sausage Bolognese is a hearty comforting pasta sauce, made super healthy with tons of hidden veggies! The veggie base of the sauce is pulsed in a food processor for a flavor packed, nutrient dense dinner the whole family will love! As familiar as spaghetti, yet a totally new hearty marinara sauce, kid-friendly too!

Prep Time30

Cook Time1 30

Total Time2

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: to 12

Calories: 396kcal

Author: Meryl Downing

Equipment

food processor

Ingredients

½ to 1 pound ground bulk Italian Sausage
1 onion
1-2 carrots
2 ribs celery
1 red bell pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
6 grinds fresh black pepper
2 to 3 leaves kale stems removed
3 cloves garlic
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning or a handful of fresh herbs
⅓ cup red wine (optional)
3 large cans whole peeled or crushed tomatoes (or a combination)
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 pound spaghetti or any hearty pasta
Parmesan cheese for serving

Instructions

Preheat a large sauce pot over medium high heat and begin to brown the Italian sausage. Break up the sausage with the back of a wooden spoon as it cooks and move it to the side of the pot.
Roughly chop the onion, celery, carrot and bell pepper into large chunks. In a food processor, pulse the vegetables until they are finely minced to a pulp-like consistency.
Add the veggies to the other side of the pot next to the sausage. Veggies can cook in the fat from the sausage, or add a bit of olive oil if needed. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until the sausage is fully browned and the veggies are sautéed, keeping them to their side as best you can, about 10 minutes.
Pulse the garlic and kale in the food processor until minced and add to the pot, cook for 1 minute. Add brown sugar and Italian seasoning and mix everything together. Add a splash of red wine if using to deglaze the pot, scraping up all those bits of sausage with a wooden spoon.
Reduce heat to low. Add the canned tomatoes. Whole peeled tomatoes can be drained into the sauce, then pulsed in the food processor to desired consistency. Crushed tomato can be added directly to the pot. Fill the emoty tomato paste can with water and use it to rinse all the cans and food processor and then add the tomatoey water to the sauce.
Let the sauce simmer on low to medium low for 1 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally. It's ok to have it bubble slightly but not boil or splatter.
When ready to serve, cook pasta following package instructions. Top the pasta with the sauce and Parmesan cheese. Extra sauce can be frozen.

Notes

The veggies are all optional and interchangeable and the amounts don't need to be exact. For example, 1 carrot, only half an onion, or no celery is fine. You could also add or substitute zucchini, mushrooms, eggplant, or a handful of spinach.
Store leftovers in glass containers in the fridge (with the pasta or separately) for up to 3 days to reheat for lunches.
Freeze sauce for up to 6 months. Freeze in different size containers or glass jars, larger for another pasta night, or smaller to make homemade pizza, individual Flatbread Pizzas for the kids for lunch, or Eggplant Paninis. When freezing in jars, only fill ¾'s full and cool completely in the fridge first so you don't crack the jars.

Nutrition