Veggie Bolognese

DESCRIPTION

A delicious plant-based bolognese that will be a hit among vegans and omnivores ! Don’t be intimidated by the long list of ingredients - each of them contributes to the final flavorful, umami-rich sauce. And I promise the cooking is super easy!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 carrot
• 1stalk celery
• 5 dried shiitake mushrooms
• 45g textured vegetable protein (TVP)
• 240ml hot water
• 1 tbsp porcini mushroom powder
• 1 tsp dashi powder
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp vegemite
• 1 tbsp light soy sauce
• 120ml red wine (optional)
• 700ml passata
• 1/2 tsp Italian herbs
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper, to taste

To serve

• 4servings cooked spaghetti
• Vegan parmesan (optional)
• Fresh basil (for garnish)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. With a knife, mince garlic and finely dice onion, carrot, celery and rehydrated shiitake mushrooms. Alternatively, you may use a food processor for this step.
2. Rehydrate TVP by soaking it in 240ml hot water or vegetable broth, covered, for 5-10 minutes.
3. Heat up olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over high heat. Add garlic, onion, carrot and celery. Cook until fragrant, about 5 minutes, stirring constantly.
4. Reduce heat to medium, add shiitake mushrooms and cook for 10 minutes, stirring constantly.
5. Add the rest of the ingredients, apart from spaghetti, and stir to combine. Cover and let simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent the bottom from burning.
6. When the bolognese sauce is almost done simmering, cook spaghetti or pasta of choice according to package instructions. Drain pasta, reserving about 120ml of pasta cooking water.
7. Add pasta and a splash of cooking water to the bolognese sauce. Give everything a toss until combined and serve immediately with vegan parmesan (if using) and garnish with some fresh basil. Enjoy!

NOTES

• Mushroom powder, dashi powder and vegemite all add umami and depth to the bolognese sauce. However, if you don’t have any of these ingredients, feel free to omit them or replace with something similar. Eg. substitute dashi powder with a dash of dashi stock, vegemite with marmite or nutritional yeast.
• You can use vegetable broth instead of hot water.
• If you cannot take alcohol, substitute red wine with water or vegetable broth.
• Feel free to use any variety of spaghetti or pasta that suits your dietary need eg. gluten-free, wholewheat.

© Chloe Ting Recipes – https://chloeting.com/recipes/veggie-bolognese