Gina's Chicken Bolognese

This is a huge batch of a high protein sauce, I serve it for dinner on Sunday and then keep the rest to eat for lunches during the week. You can also freeze it. One thing I love about this sauce is that you can serve it over pasta for some family members or over veggie noodles, chopped veggies or polenta for others. You can also easily adjust this to make it all plant-based, see note at bottom of recipe!

Ingredients: 

• 1 lb ground chicken Italian sausage (spicy or sweet)
• 1 lb ground chicken thighs 

• 1-3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced (my favorite box chopper)
• 2-3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2-3 celery stalks, trimmed and diced
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• 2 large cans organic whole tomatoes
• 1 big handful of washed and dried fresh basil leaves
• 1 Tbsp Better Than Bouillon or 1 bouillon cube
• 1/2 tsp Sea salt
• 5 cracks of Black pepper
• Pat of butter

Instructions: 

1. Place a large stock/soup pot over medium heat
2. Add chicken sausage and break up into small chunks.
3. When sausage is halfway browned through, add ground chicken thigh and break up into small chunks.
4. When fully browned, used a slotted spoon to remove from pot and set aside in a bowl.
5. Add 1-3 Tbsp olive oil depending on how much oil is left in the pot from the chicken.
6. Add onion, carrots and celery and sauté for about 10 minutes.
7. Add garlic and pinch of red pepper flakes (omit if you’re using very spicy sausage), stir to combine.
8. Meanwhile, whizz the tomatoes in a blender until whole tomatoes are broken up completely.
9. Add tomatoes, basil, bouillon, salt and pepper, stir to combine and reduce heat to medium low.
10. Simmer uncovered until sauce thickens, stir once in a while and scrape edges of pot back into sauce. If it begins to boil, reduce heat even more.
11. Once sauce has thickened (usually 30-45 minutes), add chicken back in and stir to combine.
12. Check seasoning, add more salt and pepper as needed
13. Remove from heat (option to remove basil leaves) and add a pat of butter or a glug of olive oil.
14. Serve over pasta, polenta or veggie noodles. Top with parmesan if you'd like!

Note: You can make this vegetarian/vegan by using French Puy lentils instead of chicken, just prepare them first and add them at step 11.