Penne Bolonaise

Penne Bolonaise 

It sounds fancy but even if you're buying all the ingredients just for this it'll cost you about $3 per person per serve. I had all the ingredients on hand and going by percentage, it cost me approximately 75c per person. It doesn't get much cheaper than that! With 3 vegetables, meat and pasta, it's a trifecta win that freezes and reheats fantastically!

Ingredients:

The finished product!

Mince
Tomato Paste
Pasta

Equipment:

Fry pan
Saucepan
Colander
Wooden Spoon

Info:

Makes 6 servings (if you stick to the 'recommended' serving size)

Allergens: Gluten.

Recipe:

1. Put mince into a fry pan and brown (if you're adding onion add it here)
2. Once the meat it browned add tomato paste and approximately 2 cups of water, most of this will simmer off. Also add any vegetables and herbs. I added carrot, beans, garlic and some dried parsley.
3. Simmer covered whilst you boil water for the pasta. (if you don't have a cover don't worry! Add more water (about the tomato paste bottle worth) and it will be fine!)
4. Once water is boiling add pasta (I used approximately half a kilo) and stir regularly until cooked through.
5. Mix it! Mix it real good! Then distribute and enjoy or freeze :)

Comments:

This recipe is super easy and doesn't need any fancy things from the store. YES tomato paste may not be something in your pantry but water down some tomato sauce with water, salt and pepper and dried herbs and like magic! You have yourself a (not quite as healthy) tomato paste. Use frozen vegetables! Use Kangaroo mince instead of beef (though don't simmer quite as long!)! Or use spiral pasta instead of penne. Recipes often give us the impression that everything is exact and you have to shop to make a recipe work. That simply isn't true! Feel free to experiment! Let me know what works for you!

Variations:

This recipe is soooooo open to interpretation! Add some chives and garlic with capsicum and really make it crunch! Add some chilli (real or dried) with some beans and tomato and go Mexican! Don't add the pasta and use it as a taco filler with lettuce and cheese! As always, the options are endless! Be creative!

Storage Instructions:

I would say you could refrigerate it for about 3 days, maybe longer. You can easily freeze this for up to 3 months. Great at a warm lunch microwave meal and sure beats the balls of the price of these 'lean cuisine' meals.

Nutritional Information:

(all gotten from 'myfitnesspal')

Calories: 498 per serving.

Fat: 13.3 g per serving.

Sodium: 98.66 mg per serving.

Protein: 25.83 g per serving.

***For meal as prepared by me (1/6th)