It will be no surprise to you loyal readers that I love some good old fashioned comfort food. And, for me, spaghetti has always been and will be forever more, the ultimate comfort dish. Keep your ice cream, chocolate and cookies...give me a steaming hot bowl of spaghetti any day which is why I have many spaghetti recipes at hand. lol. But this one is a new one..created for Thrifty Thursdays. I wanted to provide a healthy but economical dish...that was also filling and comforting. It also needed to have great taste and look good enough to eat! lol. Oh dear..I do get worse. lol.
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| Rocket and Roses Mushroom Bolognese with Spaghetti and steamed broccoli & green beans |
My tastes have changed over the years so I stick with wholewheat when I can or Buckwheat which is also good. But I have provided costings for wholewheat and for regular white spaghetti. And it goes without saying that if you are GF then subbing for your own personal preference will, 1. Alter the costing drastically as GF pasta is shockingly priced over here in the UK 2. Work beautifully with the GF Bolognese sauce I've created. lol.
You can make this even cheaper if you use dried green lentils and cook them up yourself but I wanted ease and so therefore I used a tin of green lentils in water. But even using this ingredient..you'll be surprised at how cheap this meal for four came in at. Costing are listed after the recipe.
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| Close up on the sauce..so tasty. |
(Original recipe from the Rocket and Roses Vegan Kitchen)
1 head of Broccoli, trimmed, cut into sm-med florets
1 bag of green beans, topped and tailed
12 oz spaghetti of choice
(3oz per person)
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove, grated
4oog mushrooms, prepped and slice
1 14oz tin green lentils, rinsed and drained
1 14oz tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 tsp dried oregano
freshly ground black pepper
pinch of low sodium salt - optional
Place the broccoli and green into the basket of a steamer and cook for 10 minutes until tender crisp. Remove the water from pan and leave the veggies to sit in warmth until ready to serve.
Cook your pasta as per the package instructions or your preferred way of cooking your pasta. I put mine into cook when I remove the skillet lid for the final cooking time as the sauce can take a sitting period until the pasta is perfectly al dente.
In a large skillet saute the onion and garlic with small amounts of water until they are softened and almost translucent. Then add the mushrooms, tomatoes, tomato puree, oregano and drained lentils. Season with the salt and black pepper. Stir very well to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 5 minutes. Remove the lid and cook for a further 4 minutes until the sauce thickens slightly.
Place the spaghetti into a warmed serving dish and then top with the sauce. Toss together so the sauce coats the pasta. Arrange the broccoli and green beans around the edge of the dish. (If you are lucky enough to get vegan Parmesan than a sprinkle over the top would finish this dish perfectly but it doesn't need it! ~R~) Serve immediately..
Enjoy!
~R~
Thrifty Thursday Meal Costs Breakdown
Items
Onion | 48p | |
Garlic | 2.5p | |
Mushrooms | 97p | |
Chopped Tomatoes | 33p | |
Tomato Puree | 3.5p | |
Oregano | 1p | |
Salt | 1p | |
Black Pepper | 1p | |
Green Beans | £1 | |
Broccoli | 60p | |
Sub Total | £3.60 | |
| Wholemeal Spaghetti | 60p | Total £4.20 |
£1.05 per person | ||
| White Spaghetti | 16p | Total £3.66 |
91p per person |
As you can see there is quite a difference because of the pasta..and unfortunately using a store bought GF pasta would increase that price greatly.
But £4.20 to feed four as a main meal is quite reasonable. I was very happy with the costings on this meal as I thought that it may come in at a higher price. Phew! Hope you give it a try..and as always I would be happy to hear from you.
Save those pennies folks!
~R~
