As much as I love vegan food, I do miss the smell of a slow-cooked bolognese sauce filling the apartment on a cold Sunday afternoon with a glass of a good Italian red by my side. t's not that I love the meatiness. It's all about that smell being a constant reminder to you that you are in the middle of creating something delicious in the kitchen, somehow it smells coziness and it screams home.
Original Bolognese is one of my favorite sauces to make, and always did it more during Winter and cold rainy days in Spring and Autumn. I was pretty damn good at it. My goal with this vegan version is to create a 100% meat-free organic sauce with fresh ingredients, that differently from the vegetarian version I gave you before, which was fast and convenient & still delicious. But this one benefits from a long, slow braise, and produces an end result that is every bit as rich, hearty, a deeply flavorful as my old own Bolognese recipe, making it the perfect sauce to make on a cold Sunday like today, with a red glass of wine by your side and family around getting impatient with the hearty smell coming from your kitchen.
Ingredients
1 medium eggplant 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil, divided, plus more for serving Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper 1 medium onion, finely diced (about 1 cup) 2 medium carrots, finely diced (about 1 cup) 2 large ribs celery, finely diced (about 1 cup) 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh sage leaves 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves 4 medium cloves garlic, minced 2 cups dry red wine 3 bay leaves 1 pound button mushrooms, finely chopped 12 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded, caps finely chopped 1/4 cup tomato paste 2 tablespoons white or red miso paste 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes packed in juice, crushed roughly by hand or with a potato masher 2 tablespoons soy sauce 3/4 cup almond milk shave carrots thin slices of spinach Any vegan ravioli or cheese ravioli if you eat dairy, or any pasta or zucchini noodles will do
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Lay eggplant on a large sheet of aluminum foil. Drizzle with 1 teaspoon oil and season with salt and pepper. Wrap in foil and transfer to a baking sheet. Roast until eggplant is completely softened, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
2.While eggplant roasts, prepare a sauce. Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat until simmering. Add onions, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until completely softened but not browned, about 10 minutes. Add sage, half of parsley, half of basil, and garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until aromatic, about 2 minutes. Add red wine and bay leaves. Increase heat to medium-high and simmer until wine is reduced nearly dry, about 5 minutes. Transfer mixture to a large saucepan and wipe out skillet.
3.Add remaining oil to skillet and set over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add button mushrooms and shiitake and cook, stirring occasionally, until mushroom liquid completely evaporates and mushrooms are well-browned all over about 20 minutes. Add tomato paste and miso and stir to combine. The paste will leave a light residue on the bottom of the pan. This is ok.
4.Add canned tomatoes and cook, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon. Add mixture to pot with vegetables and reduced wine. Add soy sauce and almond milk.
5. After the eggplant is cooked, remove from oven and let rest until cool enough to handle. Slit skin of eggplant and scrape out softened flesh gently with a spoon. Chop eggplant flesh into a fine puree and add to pot with sauce. Stir sauce to combine, bring to a bare simmer, reduce heat to lowest setting, and cover with lid slightly ajar. Cook, stirring occasionally until sauce is rich and thick and flavors have fully developed about 1 hour. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
6.To serve, cook pasta (or zucchini noodles, I serve it here with spinach & cheese ravioli, but you can use any vegan kinds of ravioli for a completely vegan recipe) according to package directions in salted water. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of cooking liquid. Add pasta and cooking liquid to the mushroom sauce. Add remaining chopped parsley and basil (reserving a little for garnish, if desired). Cook over high heat, stirring, until sauce is rich and thick and coats every piece of pasta. Transfer to a serving bowl or individual bowls, drizzle with more extra-virgin olive oil, top with sliced spinach and shave carrots and serve immediately.
Enjoy !
