Serving suggestion: I served mine with Wild Rocket and Wholewheat Penne :)
Whether you're vegan or not, it's always good to give your body a little break from eating meat and/or dairy from time to time! I haven't had Bolognese in ageeeees and just had a massive craving for it recently. I don't really buy any Quorn products anymore so decided to create my own version of a bolognese which (if I don't say so myself) turned out daaaamn good!
Serves 4: share, or freeze the leftovers!
You will need:
1/2 a cup of Red Lentils
4 Cloves of Garlic
1Red Onion
1 Carrot
1 a Red Pepper
1/2 an Aubergine
200ml of water or stock
6 Button Mushrooms
1 tin of chopped Tomatoes
3 tspn of Balsamic Vinegar
1 tbsp. of Marmite/Yeast Ext.
2 tbsp. of Nutritional Yeast
1 tbsp. Mixed herbs
3 bay leaves
1 tspn of Oregano
1/2 tspn of Nutmeg
1 handful of fresh parsley (approx. 30g)
1 handful of fresh basil (approx. 30g)
Oil
Salt & Pepper to taste
Equipment:
1 chopping board
1 sharp knife
1 medium pan with lid
1 peeler
1 can opener
1 mixing spoon
Method:
Peel and chop all your veg into small cubes
Add a glug of oil into the pan on medium heat
Add the chopped Garlic, Carrots, Onion and Pepper and sauté for 10 minutes
Then add the Mushrooms and Aubergine with a tsp of Marmite and sauté for a further 5 minutes
Add the tinned Tomatoes, Balsamic Vinegar, rinsed Red Lentils, Herbs, Nutmeg, Nutritional Yeast, Bay leaves, Salt and Pepper and give it a good stir
Add 100ml of water/stock, so that the Lentils are fully submerged and allow to simmer for 5 minutes with lid on
Check on the Bolognese after 5 minutes, give it a taste and keep adding water/stock gradually until the sauce is of desired consistency- the Lentils should be cooked after another 5 minutes
5-10 minutes before serving remove bay leaves add chopped fresh Basil and Parsley and enjoy
I serve mine with cashew parmesan:
blitz in a food processor
1/4 a cup of cashews
1/2 a cup of nutritional yeast
1 tsp of oregano
1 tsp of garlic powder
salt
Tip: You can also use a hand blender to blitz the bolog a little to bring it all together and make it more 'mince-like' instead of a chunky consistency - see below.
