Goat Cheese Lamb Bolonese

I made this sauce tonight because I wanted something fast for dinner. This is definitely a good dish for the cold, wintery weather, even we aren't quite there yet! Can you tell I can't wait for the cold? The goat cheese is just enough to make the sauce creamy but not overpowering. As well as the lamb and the goat cheese complement each other nicely.

The sauce is inspired by Heidi Swanson's 101 Cookbook's 5 minute tomato sauce but I kicked it up to a new level with the meat and the cheese.

I served my sauce over pasta with a side of sauteed rapini. For the rapini, I cooked in a splash of olive oil, salt, pepper, and 4 cloves of minced garlic. This was the perfect side. The entire meal took 30 minutes to cook start to finish.

Serves 4-5 people.

Ingredients:
1/4 c extra virgin olive oil
2 rosemary lamb sausages
4 cloves garlic
1 1/2 t crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 t freshly ground sea salt
28 oz crushed canned organic red tomatoes
2 1/2 oz goat cheese
zest of 1 lemon
12 oz cooked fusili




1. Heat olive oil. Remove meat from sausage casing and place in the hot oil. (Discard the casing).
2. Cook the meat, breaking it up into small pieces.
3. When the meat is cooked, add the garlic, red pepper flakes, and salt. Stir for about one minute but do not allow the garlic to brown.
4. Add the tomatoes. Simmer for about 7-10 minutes, stirring frequently until sauce thickens.
5. Once thick, add goat cheese and stir until it melts into the sauce. Heat for one minute.
6. Add the lemon zest. Stir.
7. Serve over pasta.

*Variations: This sauce would be excellent with a French feta cheese to replace the goat. If you choose to use feta you may want to cut back on the salt.