Bolognese Sauce with Pasta

This sauce is adapted from Jamie's Food Revolution cookbook. It's hearty, flavorful and could be topped on gluten free pasta, rice, or even a bed of sauteed greens. 

Ingredients:
2 slices of smoked bacon, preferably free-range or organic
2 medium onions
2 cloves of garlic
2 carrots
2 celery stalks
olive oil
2 heaping tsp dried oregano
1 lb good-quality ground beef, pork or a mixture of the two
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
2, 14 ounce cans of diced tomatoes (no salt added)
1 small can tomato paste
small bunch of fresh basil
4 ounces fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1 lb gluten free pasta


Directions:
Finely dice the bacon. Peel and finely chop the onions, garlic, carrots and celery. Place a large pan on medium to high heat.  Add 2 lugs of olive oil, sliced bacon and oregano to your pan. Cook and stir until bacon is lightly golden. Add the chopped veggies to the pan and saute for about 7 minutes until softened. Stir in the ground beef/pork breaking it up with a fork. Add the canned tomatoes and tomato paste.
Fill one of the empty cans with water and add to the pan. Stir in a good pinch of salt and pepper. 


Pick the basil leaves off the stalk and store leaves in the fridge for later. Finely dice the basil stalks and stir into the pan. Bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and simmer with a lid on and slightly askew for 1 hour, stirring every now and again. Take the lid off and cook for another 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the sauce as it cooks, and if you think it's starting to dry out, add a splash of water. 


Remove the Bolognese sauce from heat. Stir in half of the grated parmesan cheese (save remaining for garnish). Tear and stir half of the basil into the sauce (save remaining for garnish). Season with additional salt and pepper. You can now allow it to cool, bag it and freeze or keep it warm while you cook your gluten free pasta!  Enjoy!!!