You asked for more vegetarian recipes and wow do I have you covered! This vegan bolognese gives you all the amazing texture and flavor of a traditional bolognese, but without the meat. The recipe was made by an actual chef who owns an Italian restaurant… so you can trust that it’s crazy good.
My friend Frank is a culinary trained chef on Long Island, NY. He told me about this recipe and I immediately knew it was perfect for my audience and that you guys would love it, so, he was nice enough to let me share it. This bolognese packs in a ton of veggies and uses diced mushrooms and walnut as the “meat.” It literally looks exactly like a traditional bolognese and honestly, might even taste better than one.
The true taste test is this: as you might know, Jordan is a meat and potatoes kinda guy. If I’m making a vegetarian meal, he’ll go out and buy chicken (LOL). This was probably the first and only meal that he’s been satisfied and content with without any meat. I’m not sure how he feels about me always using his opinions as my threshold but… there ya have it!
By the way – if you live in New York and near Long Island, Frank owns an amazing Italian restaurant called Venere in Westbury. I’ve been a bunch of times over the past few years and it’s the best. Literally everything is good!
Notes
- Veggies: the finer you chop them, the more “meat”-like the bolognese will seem. Using a food processor makes this super easy, but you can also chop by hand.
- San Marzano tomatoes: for a quick shortcut, you can use 28 oz. canned crushed tomatoes. Chef Frank warned me that this does change the flavor but… I’m all about those shortcuts 🙂 (for more cooking hacks and shortcuts – click here!)
- Add ons: I added parmesan cheese on top, which obviously makes this no longer vegan. For a full vegan version, simply skip the parmesan or try sprinkling some nutritional yeast on top – yum! Other optional add ons include fresh herbs like basil or parsley and/or microgreens.
Ingredients
- 2 cups walnuts chopped
- 1 cup mushrooms any kind
- 3 sticks celery
- 1 small onion
- 3 medium carrots
- 1 28 oz. San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes hand crush or use food mill*
- 1 cup red wine
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Herbs to taste bay leaf, sage, rosemary or thyme
- Salt
- Pepper
Instructions
- Chop walnuts very small or pulse walnuts in food processor.
- Dice mushrooms, celery, onion and carrots.
- Coat a pan or pot with olive oil. Sauté the onions, carrots and celery on medium high heat until soft and lightly golden, stirring occasionally, about 5-10 minutes.
- Add walnuts and mushrooms and bring the mixture to temperature, about 2-3 minutes.
- Add the red wine and reduce by about half.
- Add crushed tomatoes and lower heat to medium. Reduce all excess water until desired temperature is reached, about 10-20 minutes.
- Add fresh herbs, salt and pepper to taste and cook for another 5-10 minutes.
- Pair with fettuccini or tagliatelle for a classic bolognese, or any pasta to your liking (I used whole wheat penne rigate!).
