Mondays require special food sometimes, and last night was no different. But what’s a girl to do when she’s trying to be healthy and craving warm, hearty food? Last night, my solution came in the form of spaghetti bolognese. It has quickly became my favorite take on spaghetti, and when combined with spaghetti squash instead of pasta, it’s a total no-brainer.  The wine and carrots add just enough “different” to make it more fun than a traditional tomato sauce.

My recipe is from Mad Hungry: The Art of Feeding Men and Boys. There are so many good recipes in that cookbook!  I tried making it healthier last night (on top of the spaghetti squash switcheroo), but I would say it’s best exactly as written.  Sometimes I’m lazy and don’t put the diced tomatoes in the blender.  If you have any energy left, use the blender.  Trust me.

You can use bacon instead of pancetta (although it does taste different with bacon).  You can use venison instead of beef.  You can use 1% milk if you’d like.  But keep the proportions of veggies the same, and enjoy.  It smells amazing while it’s simmering on the stove, and it only gets one pot and a cutting board dirty.  Not bad.

Also, I may or may not have been on the local news last night.  It turns out that I’m a whole stinkin’ lot better at cooking than I am at talking to a camera.  Oh well.  I’ll only need to survive on camera a few times per lifetime.