Turkey, Vegetable, Bean Ragu - Italian or Mexican

This is your typical clean out the fridge recipe.  But ragus can be really, really tasty comfort food especially on a cold day.  You can exchange vegetables according to what you've got in your fridge.  

Pretty much all Italian, French and American sauces start with carrots, onions and celery so really you should just keep those on hand 100% of the time.  They are staples like bread and milk.  But beyond that really whatever you've got at hand will do, from kale to eggplant to potatoes (although potatoes and other tubers need to be put in during the last 25 minutes only, otherwise they'll overcook).  You can skip the fresh tomatoes and the beans altogether if you wish and replace it with more vegetables or just have a smaller amount of sauce.  But the canned tomatoes are a must too and really should also be considered a staple as you can do so many things with them.  I buy canned tomatoes in boxes from warehouse stores and i make my own broth and freeze it.  

If you don't have broth you can put a cup of wine, red or white - although i'd stay away from anything sweet and put that in with a cup of water instead of the broth.  Or go a little crazy and use 2 cups of red wine - i wouldn't do that with white.  Or use a can of bear and some water.  Really ragu is easy and fun because there are so many ways you can go.  You can have it be a little saucier for your pasta or do like i have it arranged here.  You can use more of the carrots, celery and onions although i wouldn't use less. And in the process you're cleaning out your fridge of almost ready to turn vegetables or bits and pieces leftover.  Bell peppers, mustard greens (cut into very small pieces), turnips, beets, really you name it.  Also any ground meat will do: pork, turkey, chicken, beef, veal or sausage.

Anyway this one went really well.  As i cook nowadays i take photos and the ones that turn out real well i post (i've been having difficulties with my camera and so have been out of commission for a while but i'm back in action using a cell phone until i can either find the camera cord or get a new one).

2 Tbls Olive oil

2 carrots

2 celery stalks

3 garlic cloves

1 lg onion

2 medium zucchini

2 tomatoes

2 cans tomatoes - chopped or whole (up to you)

1 1/4 lb ground 99% fat free turkey (try Jenny-Os)

1/2 lb kidney beans plus 2 bay leaves  (or two cans)

2 cups chicken, vegetable or turkey broth

extra water as needed

1 tsp oregano

2 tsp italian herbs (or use a combo of basil, rosemary and thyme) (i used Trader Joe's 21 herbs)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

extra salt to taste

To make the beans before hand if you don't buy the canned, put a large pot full of water on the stove and add the beans and 2 bay leaves.  Bring to a boil.  Drop down to lowest setting, put on lid and let go for 2 hrs.  Don't add salt.  Or conversely you can put water, beans and bay leaves in a crockpot on low for 8-10 hrs.

When ready to make recipe, cut up the vegetables into bite size pieces except mince the garlic.  Put 2 Tbls of oil in a very large, high sided pan or a dutch oven and bring to high heat.  Add the vegetables except the tomatoes and "stir-fry" for a while until you've got some browning of the vegetables.  You want to see at least some golden colors before you move onto the next step. (The more browned the vegetables are the better however you don't want them cooked to death - hence the high heat and stir-frying!).  Add the turkey and using a potato masher break into teeny pieces, still frying.  Once the meat is all broken up into bits you can move on.

Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, oregano and herb mix of your choice (go Italian or perhaps Mexican, Mexican would be 2 tsp cumin, 1 Tbls chili powder and cayenne to taste).  Add the canned tomatoes and the beans and broth and bring to a boil.  Drop down to a medium/low simmer.  Let it go like that for 1 hr or more until the juice is all evaporated.  If the juice evaporates before an hour then add a little water - it won't water it down, i promise so long as you evaporate that too or conversely if you have alot of juice left at the hour mark turn up the heat to high and boil off the juice - keep a good eye on it though as it can burn quickly if you're not watching.

To serve either take some pasta and cook it according to instructions and take out a cup of the cooking water before you strain it.  Put the pasta back in the pot, add a big ladle of ragu plus the cup of pasta water and give it a good stir.  Serve the pasta as such with a helping of the ragu on top - Or you can serve it alongside rice or i served it with wheat berries. 

 Enjoy!