Turkey Bolognese

This is such a fabulous recipe from Gwyneth Paltrow! It's a perfect weekend meal. Make sure you allow a good 5 hours, because this is one of those long simmering/make your house smell amazing recipes. It's bolognese made a bit healthier, because of the turkey, but it satisfies every single bit as much as a red meat bolognese. I like to serve this with a Caesar salad and some homemade garlic bread. Yum!

• Ready In: 5 hrs 40 mins
• Serves: 4-8

Ingredients

• 5 -6  tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, plus more as needed
• 3⁄4 lb  Italian turkey sausage, cut into 4 inch long links
• 1  lb ground turkey (ideal to use dark meat)
•  coarse salt, to taste
•  fresh ground black pepper, to taste
• 2  medium yellow onions, peeled and finely diced (about 2 cups)
• 3  garlic cloves, peeled and minced
• 2 (28 ounce) cans  whole peeled tomatoes with their  juice
• 1⁄3 cup tomato paste
• 3⁄4-1  lb rigatoni pasta
•  grated parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions

1. Heat 2-3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a large heavy pot over medium-high heat. Add the sausages and cook, turning them occasionally, until browned all over - about 10 minutes. Remove the sausages to a plate.
2. Add the ground turkey to the pot and add salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, or until browned. Remove to a separate plate.
3. Add another 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil to the pot and add the onion and garlic. Cook until they soften and just begin to brown - about another 10 minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes and their juice along with about a 1/2 cup of water (used to swish out the cans).
5. Add the ground turkey, stir the sauce well and then nestle in the turkey sausages. Bring the sauce to a boil, season to taste with salt and pepper(doesn't really need much-if at all-salt at this point). Turn the heat to low.
6. Cover almost completely iwth a lid (letting the steam escape from one side) and gently simmer for about 4 hours - adding splashes of water every hour or so if the sauce is drying out at all.
7. Uncover the sauce and stir in the tomato paste. Barely cover the pot this time and simmer for another hour.
8. When it's almost time to serve, bring a large pot of water to a boil and salt generously. Add the rigatoni and cook according to the pacakage directions.
9. Serve the sauce over the cooked rigatoni with a good grating of Parmesan cheese on top.