photo: kingrecipes.com Spaghetti with beef and vegetable mince

Spaghetti with beef and vegetable mince

You will love this delicious mince dish, loaded with veggies, from the first bite.

This beef and vegetable mince recipe is easy, quick and super tasty. It works perfectly for busy weekdays, it is fairly inexpensive, and a batch of this recipe can last a few days.

The nutritional value of this dish is much better than plain spaghetti and mince dishes, because it is packed with the variety of vegetables. Feel welcome to experiment and add your favorite vegetables in addition or instead of the ones we recommend using in this recipe.

Adding vegetables to the mince is a great trick to extend ground meat if you are trying to live on a budget. Eggplant is great at imitating the texture of the ground meat and it also absorbs the meaty flavor very well. Carrots and onions add a subtle sweetness and a lot of nutrition to the dish.

This beef and vegetable mince should freeze well, if you want to make a double batch and have it on hand, or if you want to save the leftovers for another busy night later in the month.

25 min

6 servings

Steps

1. Cut 1 medium eggplant into small cubes, put into the bowl, add 2 tablespoons of salt, mix well and leave for 15 minutes. The salt will absorb and remove the bitterness from the eggplant, you will notice the liquid gathering at the bottom of the bowl.
2. Cook spaghetti in a large pan of boiling, salted water, following packet directions, until tender. Drain.
3. While spaghetti is cooking dice or grate 1 big onion and 1 big carrot.
4. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat, add onions and carrots and fry for 5 minutes. Drain the liquid from the eggplant. Add eggplant to the saucepan and fry for another 5 minutes.
5. Add mince to the center of the saucepan, moving vegetables to the side. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon to break up mince, for 8 to 10 minutes or until browned. Add diced tomatoes or tomato puree and peas, season with salt, pepper and oregano. Stir to combine, and reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer for 5 minutes or until heated through.
6. Add spaghetti to mince mixture, toss to coat. Serve topped with some cheddar cheese and chopped parsley