Gentle Spaghetti Bolognese
By Robin Tasker · Serves 6 · 55 min
Omega-3 fats +
SalmonSardinesCanned tunaThree lenses: how gentle on the gut, how nourishing, how tasty — because gentle isn't the same as healthy. How the scores work →
A rich, slow-simmered bolognese that skips the onion and garlic but keeps all the savoury depth — built on our onion-free stock, garlic-infused oil and a little tomato paste. A weeknight staple the whole table can share.
Spag bol is the meal my kids ask for most, so it was one I really wanted to get right after my takedown. The usual version — packed with onion, garlic and a couple of tins of tomatoes — used to be a guaranteed rough night.
This one gets the same deep, savoury, Sunday-sauce flavour a gentler way: garlic-infused oil for the garlic note without the FODMAP, a spoon of miso and a little tomato paste for richness instead of a flood of acidic tinned tomatoes, and soft carrot and courgette melted right in. It simmers low and slow, and nobody at our table can tell it's the gentle one.
Ingredients
- Sauce*
- 1 tbsp garlic-infused oil
- 500 g beef mince
- 150 g carrot, peeled and finely diced
- 150 g courgette, finely diced
- 30 g tomato paste
- 15 g miso paste
- 500 ml onion-free stock (or other low-FODMAP stock)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 /2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 /4 tsp salt
- 1 /4 tsp black pepper
- To serve*
- 350 g spaghetti (white pasta)
- 30 g parmesan, finely grated
Method
- Heat the garlic-infused oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the beef mince and brown it well, breaking it up as it cooks.
- Stir in the diced carrot and courgette and cook for 5 minutes, until starting to soften.
- Add the tomato paste and miso and cook for a minute, then pour in the stock. Add the oregano, thyme, salt and pepper.
- Turn the heat down low and simmer gently for 30–40 minutes, stirring now and then, until thick and rich and the veg has melted in.
- Near the end, cook the spaghetti until just tender and drain.
- Serve the sauce over the spaghetti with parmesan on top.
Gentler swaps
Which pasta? Plain white spaghetti is the gentlest, lowest-residue choice and the cheapest. Wholemeal adds fibre and nutrition if your gut is settled, but more roughage can loosen things and nudges the pouch score up a little.
Stock & garlic: our onion-free, garlic-free stock and garlic-infused oil carry the savoury, garlicky base without the onion and garlic solids that tend to cause wind. A spoon of miso adds the deep, slow-cooked savouriness you'd usually get from a long onion soffritto.
For the family
Cook once — your gentle version, plus how to pep it up for everyone else.
Cook the one big pot, then ladle out your gentle portions first. Tip the rest back on the heat with a tin of chopped tomatoes, a chopped onion and a clove of garlic, maybe a splash of red wine, and simmer a few more minutes. Same bolognese; yours is simply the gentle one. Chilli flakes, extra parmesan and torn basil finish everyone else's bowls.
Scores are modelled estimates, not medical advice. Everyone's gut is different, and tolerance changes over time. Reintroduce foods one at a time, and follow your own medical team's advice.