Bolognese Sauce for Spaghetti

This recipe will serve 5-6 people. Plan on making the sauce about an hour before dinnertime.

300 gm ground chicken*
2-3 T olive oil
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1 small onion (or ½ bigger onion) chopped
1 C or so of shimeji mushrooms (cut off the very bottom part, and rinse them first) Shiitake mushrooms are fine, too, but they have a stronger flavor.
1 finely grated carrot
1 chicken bouillon cube
2 (400 gm) cans chopped tomatoes
1 tomato can of water
3 T tomato paste
1 t basil
1/2 t oregano
1 bay leaf
Salt/pepper
(¼ C dry red wine)
(fresh basil leaves) 

Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add onions, garlic, and meat. As they are cooking, add the basil, oregano, and bay leaf. Add the mushrooms, stir a bit, and add the carrots. By this time, the meat is probably cooked through, so you can stir in the tomatoes, water, bouillon, and tomato paste. Add about ½ t of salt and ½ t of freshly ground pepper. Stir, and simmer over a very low flame for 40-50 minutes or more, stirring so it doesn't stick or burn. Before serving, taste it and add more salt and pepper if needed. If you're adding wine, you can do that now.

About 20 minutes before dinner, put on a couple liters of water to boil for noodles. When the water boils, add about 1 t of salt and cook noodles according to the package directions. Drain, rinse, and serve.

You can top the pasta with a little pizza-type cheese, chopped fresh basil, and/or parmesan cheese.

*You can use ground beef if you prefer, but if so, cook the meat separately first, drain the grease, then add it to the sauce.