Living a busy life does not always lend itself to healthy meals. We all have grand plans of “meal planning” and that’s difficult too. Some weeks the best we can do is give our body is 75% healthy and 25% whatever the hell we can throw down our throat.
Have no fear, we found this recipe that feeds our body 90% healthy sustenance and 10% naughtiness (the pappardelle). Hey, we like to live on the wild side. But truly everything in moderation. We added some substitutions for health and vegetarian options. Enjoy!
Spicy Chicken Bolognese w/ Pappardelle (with vegetarian options)
Ingredients (seems like a lot but don’t worry)
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pound ground chicken breast (optional: portobello mushrooms- seen below)
- 3 to 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 1 small carrot, finely
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 cup chicken stock
- One 32-ounce can Italian crushed tomatoes
- Pinch ground cinnamon (it totally makes the flavor)
- Salt
- A few leaves fresh basil, torn
- 1 cup milk (optional we didn’t use milk)
- 1 pound pappardelle pasta or other wide-cut flat pasta (optional- we could have tried serving over a bed cauliflower rice, Romain lettuce, or anything really)
Directions
In a medium pan on medium heat, add the chicken and brown and crumble. Add the garlic, carrots, and onions, and cook to soften, 10 minutes. Then add the stock, tomatoes, cinnamon, clove and nutmeg. Bring the sauce to a bubble. Season with salt, and then stir in the basil. Simmer gently for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Heat a large pot of salted water to boil, and then cook the pappardelle to al dente. Reserve a cup of the starchy cooking water just before draining the pasta.
Return the pasta to the drained pot and toss with half of the sauce and some starchy water. Serve the pasta in shallow bowls topped with extra sauce and some grated Pecorino-Romano.
Bam! That’s it. It’s really simple and technically it’s “meal planning” because you’ll have left overs.
Any variations? We’d love to hear them.
wellnesswarriors nyc 