So I’m like a crazy Cooking Channel addict and watch pretty much every show on that network and Food network.  My absolute favorite celebrity chef’s, you know, the ones that I record and save absolutely every episode on my DVR, are:

  1. Nadia G’s Bitchin’ Kitchen - because she’s a total cooking bad-a$$ and super hilarious.  I actually want to hang out with her in real life.  Who said a cooking show had to be boring?  If you’ve never watched it, definitely check it out.  She’s big on clean eating, so most of her recipes I can use.
  2. Michael Symon - oh yeah! He’s pretty much paleo/primal himself and uses tons of great meats and veggies.  Occasionally he’s got some grains or pasta, but you can easily substitute those out.
**And by the way, for those paleoists, Mr. Symon has a great cookbook coming out in October that you can preorder from Amazon.  It’s called “Michael Symon’s Carnivore: 120 Recipes for Meat Lovers” - oh yeah, you know I already preordered that HERE.

That brings me to today’s recipe! Lamb Bolognese from last week’s episode of Symon’s Suppers.  I love that he used lamb in this as I do like to vary my meat.  Geez, a year ago I wouldn’t have thought I’d be eating the amount of meat I am today.  Anywhoo, here is the recipe:

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pound ground lamb shoulder
  • Kosher salt
  • 2 medium carrots, roughly chopped
  • 1 stalk celery, roughly chopped
  • 1 small red onion, roughly chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 cups dry red wine
  • 12 ounces canned San Marzano tomatoes, chopped
  • 3 sprigs fresh oregano
  • 1 fresh bay leaf
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • Pinch chile flakes

DIRECTIONS

  • Heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the lamb with a liberal pinch of salt and cook until brown, about 4 minutes. 
  • Meanwhile, combine the carrots, celery and onions in a food processor and pulse to chop finely.
 
  • With a slotted spoon, remove the browned lamb from the pan and set aside. Add the vegetables to the pan with a large pinch of salt and sweat until translucent and aromatic, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the garlic and sweat 1 minute more. Deglaze the pan with the red wine, scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon to get all the goodies into the sauce. 
  • Bring to a simmer and cook until reduced by about half. Then add the tomatoes, oregano, bay leaf, cinnamon stick and chile flakes, and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the lamb back into the pan and let simmer 20 to 30 minutes longer.

I of course use spaghetti squash in place of pasta.  So cook one of those bad boy’s up and serve this Bolognese sauce over top!  Now I rub my squash down with garlic oil before salt & peppering it and it’s been coming out AH-mazingly! So try that out for a little more flavor!