Family Recipe: My Grandmother's Chinese "Spaghetti" Bolognese (GF, Paleo, DF)
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Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 1 small spaghetti squash
  • 1 small carrot, diced
  • ¼ onion, diced
  • 2 clove garlic, minced
  • 12 oz minced turkey/ minced beef
  • 2 cup chicken broth
  • 2½ tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp coconut sugar
  • 2 tbsp GF soy sauce/ coconut aminos
  • 1½ tbsp cornstarch
  • Italian Seasoning, Mixed dried herbs
  • Salt & Black Pepper
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400F.
  2. Place squash on the oven tray and let it bake for 5-10 mins or until you can cut the squash in half. This will make it easier to cut into your squash.
  3. Cut your squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out all the seeds.
  4. In a roasting pan (make sure it has edges), lay your squash flesh side down, skin side up. Pour over a little water so that it comes barely covers the bottom of the tray.
  5. Bake for 35-45 minutes till tender. Take out of the oven to let it cool
  6. Use a fork to scrap so you get beautiful strands of spaghetti squash. Sprinkle salt on your squash.
  7. In a hot pan, add your mince turkey, carrot and onions. Keep stirring to break up the turkey.
  8. After 1-2 minutes, add in your garlic.
  9. When your turkey has just turned brown, add in your chicken broth, soy sauce, sugar and tomato paste, Italian seasoning and black pepper. Mix.
  10. When the stock starts boiling, turn it down to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes.
  11. Mix cornstarch with 1.5 tbsp of water. Add your slurry mixture. Allow the cornstarch to mix and cook through for another 1-2 minutes or till thick.
  12. Taste and adjust.
Notes
Traditional Method: Traditionally my grandmother would always add in ketchup (we opted for tomato paste and sugar) for extra sweetness. I know it sounds rather odd and probably "blasphemous" in Italian terms but it was all she had on hand. She also always always used minced pork. In Chinese Cooking, beef is not as commonly used as chicken and pork simply because ox/ cows has always been an important resource in farming, thus not seen as a tool and not for consumption.

Also, you're probably wondering - NO CHEESE? YUP! Most of my relatives from rural china have never even heard of or tasted cheese before.
Recipe by Unconventional Cooks at https://unconventionalcooks.com/2016/07/07/family-recipe-my-grandmothers-chinese-spaghetti-bolognese/