Vegan Mushroom Bolognese

One of the first recipes I ever posted on the blog is my famous classic meat bolognese sauce. It’s still easily one of the most popular recipes here. I miss it, since it used to be one of my favorites, too. Who doesn’t love twirling pasta into a hearty sauce? I came up with this vegan version that’s full of diced veggies, hearty mushrooms, and a rich herbed tomato sauce. Use with your favorite pasta or grain. I used a low carb edamame mung bean pasta, which was absolutely delicious.

Ingredients:
8 cups diced baby Bella mushrooms
Large diced onion
Cup each diced carrots and celery
Red cooking wine
Tsp dried basil
3/4 cup veg stock
Large 28 oz can tomato sauce
A 14 oz can fire roasted tomatoes (optional)
A tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp each paprika and garlic powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
Heaping tbsp fresh thyme leaves
Large dried bay leaf
2 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper
1/3 cup finely chopped parsley


Whew! Ok, here we go. In a large pot, heat 3 tbsp olive oil and sauté the onion until fragrant and translucent, adding 1/4 cup red wine to deglaze and flavor the base. Add dried basil, carrots and celery, and 3/4 cup veg stock. Mix. Cover pot to sweat the veggie mix for 5 minutes, then uncover and sauté for another 2 minutes to release the steam.
Add chopped mushrooms and another 1/4 cup red wine. Sauté uncovered for about 7 minutes, stirring often. If the mushrooms give off too much liquid, carefully drain only half the excess liquid.
Add the tomato sauce, paste, fire roasted tomatoes if using for chunky texture (don’t drain), paprika, garlic powder, turmeric, bay leaf, salt, pepper, thyme, and parsley. Bring to an active simmer on medium high heat, then lower to a still kinda active but much gentler simmer (my flame was on low) uncovered for 30 to 45 minutes. Stir occasionally. Adjust salt and pepper if needed. Serve immediately over your fave pasta or grain. This dish def feeds a crowd.