Chef Bangerter and his family have been part of the FirePower community for the past decade. Many of you know him at the Executive Chef at Langdon Hall, and we watched him smoothly take the win on Iron Chef Canada. Recently he competed for the first time with his wife Stacey in the FirePower Winter Games in early March, before the shut-down.
Follow him on Instagram for more low-cost, simple recipes you can make at home!
Chef JB’s VEGGIE Beef Bolognese
With Onion, Carrot, Celery & Bay Leaf
This is a quick basic meat sauce (heavy on the vegetables) but can easily be vegetarian by omitting the beef. If meat is your choice of protein, turkey, chicken, pork, lamb or veal all work well in this recipe. Some bits to use up? A mix of meats will work too! Double the amount of meat for a higher protein level.
This is a hearty stew like sauce that works well on pasta, crushed or mashed potatoes, cornmeal polenta or stewed beans. Stacey likes it on Konjac noodles. It’s low in calories and means she has more macro room for🍷😉
VEGGIE Beef Sauce - Serves 4
2 cups medium sized onion
4 cloves of sliced fresh garlic
2 cups diced large carrot
1/2 cup diced stick of celery
1 cup lean ground beef
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Fresh ground black peppercorn
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
650ml bottle tomato passata (purée)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Dry or fresh pasta to feed 4
Garnish
Chopped fresh basil, parsley or chives
Olive oil for drizzling and grated Parmesan cheese
Make the Sauce
In a 4-6 litre saucepan, gently cook the beef in the olive oil over medium heat until browned, 2-3 minutes. Add the bay leaf, onion, carrot, celery and garlic and continue to cook until tender, over low-medium heat for about 5 minutes. Add the tomato passata, rinse one cup of water or chicken/beef stock in the bottle and pour into the sauce pan to empty the bottle and thin the passata, stir and bring to a simmer. Turn down low and gently simmer for 30 minutes or until you have a delicious, rich veggie beef sauce.
To serve
Cook the pasta in salted water until al dente suing the cooking time suggested on the pasta box. Drain and toss with the sauce. Drizzle with more of the olive oil, add butter, chopped herbs (option if you have some we like to add basil) grated cheese and enjoy!
This sauce is more like a stew and could be a meal on its own. Make lots and use it through the week on nachos with some grated cheddar, tacos or even a sloppy joe bun!
Happy family quarantine cooking! Have fun and be safe!
Chef JB