Hey there!
Who doesn’t love pasta? Who doesn’t love pasta with a rich Bolognese? Who hasn’t tried tons of veggie Bolognese recipes just to be incredibly disappointed afterwards?
My answers to those questions are definitely, I do, I do, and I have.
I’m the biggest pasta lover on earth, there’s nothing over a delicious bowl of pasta, it’s the best! But what really makes a bowl of pasta taste amazing is the sauce that comes with it. I love pesto, I love plain tomato sauce, yet what I always liked the most was my dad’s Ragù. However, then I somehow stopped eating meat, hence I haven’t had that sauce in over two years. During those two years I’ve been trying over and over again to create the perfect veggie Bolognese. Yet, it’s been only just a few weeks ago when I finally came up with a variation that tastes pretty similar to my dads and absolutely delicious. Of course, it doesn’t taste exactly the same, yet it does taste amazing. And to be honest, I think it doesn’t really make sense to try to imitate meat. I personally just don’t like using products, such as vegetarian mince and I prefer creating my own vegetable based minced meat substitute.
I always use a mixture of mushrooms and tofu for my minced meat and I think it turns out the most delicious if you also add a potato and a carrot. Then, of course, the herbs, you need fresh rosemary and sage. Those two are definitely essential. Also add a bay leave and you’re all set.
So people, this basic recipe, comes with a pretty basic post as it is not even eight o’clock in the morning and I’m still a tad tired. Yes you got me; I am not very much of an early bird…
Anyways, here you got, the recipe:
This recipe makes enough for four to six people.
- 1 small carrot, roughly chopped
- 1 small potato, roughly chopped
- 130g mushrooms
- 100g tofu
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
- 70g tomato puree
- 1 can diced tomatoes (400g)
- ½ paprika
- Salt
- 1 sprig of rosemary
- 2 sage leaves
- 1 bay leave
- 100ml red wine
- 100ml water
- Olive oil
- Add the carrot, potato, mushrooms and tofu into a food processor. Pulse until all the ingredients are finely chopped. It should still be slightly chunky; you are not aiming for a paste like consistency.
- Heat up some olive oil in a pan and fry the garlic and onion until the onion has become translucent.
- Add the mushroom mixture. Continue frying over medium heat until the mixture has developed some colour and its volume has reduced slightly.
- Add the dice tomatoes, tomato puree, paprika, all of your herbs, salt to taste, red wine and water. Let the mixture come to a bubble, cover with a lid, lower the heat and let it cook for approximately 30 minutes.
Voila, that is how I prepare my veggie Bolognese. One of the things I love about this recipe is that it involves hardly any actual cooking. I guess the active cooking time for those would probably be less than 10 minutes. What a perfect weeknight meal, right? Plus it tastes just amazing, so rich, so flavourful, and so delicious. Perfect on top of a bowl of spaghetti or if you happen to have spare time on your hands, homemade pasta.
I hope you’ve had a wonderful weekend and a great start to the new week.
Nelly says
Good Day
May i know what type of tofu you’re using? In Malaysia we have egg tofu, white tofu, fried tofu
fannythefoodie says
Hello! I think the tofu I used was white tofu:) We actually can’t get egg tofu and fried tofu here, at least as far as I know.
Marsha Gainey says
This was all right. It made a lot. I ate it with whole wheat linguine and Parmesan. I got several meals out of it.