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Saturday, August 17, 2013

Best Ever Slow Cooker Turkey Bolognese

Bolognese has to be my favorite pasta sauce. I have a traditional(cook all day) recipe that I have posted previously but I wanted to come up with a recipe for the slow cooker that would replicate the taste and texture of the traditional method. My last slow cooker recipe(which I posted) was good but a bit runny. I hadn't taken the condensation that the slow cooker produces into consideration. My traditional recipe calls for a whole bottle of red wine. I think it's the wine that makes this sauce so I had to find a way to get the whole bottle of red wine taste into my slow cooker version. I think I have met the challenge and mastered it! This sauce was so good that I did not remember to take a picture until I was half-way through my plate of pasta. Thus the photo.

2 pounds lean ground turkey
4 large carrots, peeled
2 large onions, peeled and quartered
2 large cloves garlic
4 stalks of celery, cut into fourths
2 28 oz cans of San Marzano Tomatoes
2 6 oz cans of tomato paste
1 bottle of good red wine
2 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp Minute Tapioca

Cook's Notes- It is very important to take the time to brown the meat and veggies. This means you will need to let them cook without stirring very often. They will not brown if you are constantly stirring them while in the pan and if you do not let the moisture that naturally occurs in them to cook off.
Pour the entire bottle of red wine into a saucepan and place it over medium/high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat so it will not boil over. Allow the wine to reduce to about 2 cups. Meanwhile,place the onion and garlic in a food processor and grind finely. Clean out the food processor bowl and repeat with the carrots and the celery. Add the veggies to a large skillet that has been heated over medium/high heat with 1 tbsp of oil. Season with salt and pepper and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated and the veggies have browned. This will take about 15-20 minutes. Place the veggies into the slow cooker insert. Add the remaining oil to the skillet and brown the ground turkey. Season with salt and pepper. Again this will take about 15 minutes. Place the browned meat into the insert. Pour the tomatoes and the paste into the bowl of the food processor and pulse until pureed. Add the sauce to the insert. Pour in the reduced red wine. Stir in the thyme, tapioca and bay leaves. Adjust salt and pepper if needed. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8.

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