Turkey Bolognese with Spaghetti Squash

I'm not quite sure how I haven't posted this recipe to my website yet when I literally make it every single week for clients and for myself. It's such a delicious, comforting and healthy dinner. It's also a quick bolognese unlike my slow cooked bolognese which makes it perfect for a week night dinner. You can easily make this with gluten free or regular pasta but I love it with some roasted spaghetti squash so it's a little bit lighter. Serve with some fresh basil and vegan or regular Parmesan cheese grated fresh on top and enjoy!

For the bolognese:

1lb organic ground turkey

1/2 yellow onion, finely diced

1 carrot, finely diced

2 sticks celery, finely diced

4 cloves garlic, crushed

2 bay leaves

Salt/pepper

2 tsp Italian seasoning

1/3 cup red wine

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 24oz jar marinara sauce (I like raos, ciao pappy or carbone)

1 cup organic whole milk (or unsweetened cashew milk) (optional)

For the spaghetti squash:

2 spaghetti squash, cut in half lengthways

Drizzle of olive oil

Sprinkle of sea salt and scrunch of black pepper

Fresh basil & parmesan to serve

Preheat your oven for 400 F

Start by cutting your spaghetti squash lengthways from the stem straight down. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and drizzle with olive oil on the inside and rub some olive oil in to the skin too.

On a sheet tray lined with parchment paper, place the spaghetti squash cut side face down.

Now bake for 25 minutes.

While it's baking away in the oven, let's make the bolognese!

I like to make my mire poix very fine so I tend to give it a quick blitz in the food processor or mini food chopper. But if you want to skip this step you can just finely dice up the onion, celery and carrot yourself.

In a Dutch oven sauté the mire poix in olive oil and add in the bay leaves with salt/pepper to season.

Once translucent, add in the crushed garlic and toss to combine.

Then add in your tomato paste and let it cook for a minute, and then add in your wine. Let it simmer and evaporate for about 2 minutes.

Now add in your ground turkey and break it up until fine crumbles.

Once browned, add in your marinara sauce and milk. You can use cashew milk or skip this step completely.

Let the sauce simmer away for 15-20 minutes while you finish roasting the spaghetti squash.

It should be ready at this point. Remove it from the oven and turn over the squash. Then with a fork, scrape up the squash, breaking up the strings until the skin is cleaned and place in to a bowl to eat.

Taste the turkey bolognese to see if it needs some more seasoning with salt/pepper.

Then spoon the turkey bolognese over the spaghetti squash. You could also mix the squash in with the bolognese and eat it like that.

Sprinkle over some finely sliced fresh basil and Parmesan or vegan parm and an extra little drizzle of olive oil and enjoy!