Plentyo Veggies Bolognese Sauce Recipes

VEGETARIAN BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• Toast fennel seeds, red pepper, and bay leaves in a skillet over medium for 2 minutes, stirring often, until fragrant. Cool 10 minutes. Transfer to a spice mill (or mortar and pestle); finely grind. Set aside.
• Place porcini mushrooms and 1 1/2 cups warm water in a bowl; let stand 15 minutes. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup soaking liquid. Finely chop mushrooms; set aside.
• Pulse shiitake mushrooms, onion, carrots, and celery in a food processor until finely chopped, 10 to 12 times.
• Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium. Add tempeh; cook 5 minutes or until golden. Add shiitake mixture, salt, and pepper; cook 10 minutes or until softened. Add garlic, ground spices, and chopped porcinis; cook 5 minutes or until mixed well.
• Pulse tomatoes in a food processor until finely chopped, 8 to 10 times.
• Stir chopped tomatoes, milk, wine, cheese rind, oregano, basil, sugar, and reserved 1/2 cup porcini soaking liquid into tempeh mixture in Dutch oven. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, partially covered, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Remove cheese rind; stir in grated cheese.
• Cook spaghetti per package directions. Toss with butter to coat; serve with Bolognese; garnish with fresh basil, if desired.

VEGETARIAN BOLOGNESE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, in a large Dutch oven, melt 2 tablespoons butter with the olive oil over medium-high. When foaming, add the onion, carrots and cauliflower, season with 1 teaspoon salt and a few pepper grinds. Cook, stirring just once or twice, until browned and juicy, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the tomato paste, soy sauce and garlic and cook, stirring and smashing the vegetables, until the tomato paste is a shade darker and sticks to the bottom of the pot, 2 to 3 minutes.
• Add the milk and bay leaf, season with salt and pepper, reduce heat to low, and stir to combine, scraping up browned bits from the pot. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until the milk has thickened slightly and the vegetables are very soft, 15 to 20 minutes. (At first the pan will look dry, then the vegetable liquid will thin the sauce and it will thicken slightly).
• Halfway through cooking the sauce, add the pasta to the boiling water and cook until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta water and drain. If the sauce is ready before the pasta, remove sauce from heat and keep covered.
• Remove the bay leaf from the sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Increase heat to medium-high. Add the pasta, 1/2 cup pasta water, the Parmesan and the remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Stir vigorously until the pasta is well coated, adding more pasta water as needed until the sauce is glossy. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve with more grated Parmesan on top.

EASY VEGETABLE BOLOGNESE WITH SPAGHETTI SQUASH

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Cut the spaghetti squash in half from top to bottom. Scoop out and discard the seeds. Place the squash on the prepared baking sheet cut-side up. Drizzle each half with about 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil and season with a generous pinch of salt and black pepper. Turn the squash cut-side down and bake until a fork easily pulls the "spaghetti" strands away from the squash, about 40 minutes.
• In the meantime, start the sauce. Heat a Dutch oven or large pot over medium heat and add enough olive oil to coat the base of the pot, about 2 tablespoons. Add the garlic, carrot, celery and onion to a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse the vegetables until finely chopped. Add the vegetables to the heated pot and season with 1/2 teaspoon each salt and black pepper. Sauté the vegetables, stirring occasionally, until they soften, about 5 minutes. Re-attach the food processor bowl and add the mushrooms and zucchini. Pulse the vegetables until finely chopped but still with some texture. Add them to the pot with the other vegetables. Season with another 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are soft and their natural liquid has mostly evaporated, 7 to 10 minutes.
• Add the milk and cook, stirring occasionally, until the milk is mostly evaporated, about 5 minutes. Next, add the red wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until the wine is mostly evaporated, about 7 minutes.
• Add the crushed tomatoes, basil, red pepper flakes, cheese rind and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bring the sauce up to a low boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover the pot and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove the lid and let the sauce simmer for an additional 15 minutes. Remove the cheese rind and discard. Season the sauce to taste.
• To serve, add spaghetti squash to individual bowls and top with a big ladle of sauce, freshly grated Parmesan and torn basil.