Bolognese Sauce

Bolognese sauce is typically a meat sauce that's served over wide noodles. I took the liberty to make this vegetarian version starting with some ideas from the Purple Carrot. Their web site has vegetarian recipes that are innovative, and I've been having some fun with them. Here's my version of Bolognese sauce, and as you can tell from the photos, I served mine over spaghetti noodles - after all, during Covid, I take whatever noodles I can find!

Ingredients: 

1 tsp olive oil

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 Anaheim chili, seeded, deveined, and chopped

1/4 cup cauliflower florets

1/2 cup mushrooms, chopped

3/4 cup Mediterranean tofu (Hodo brand)

2 Tbs. tomato paste

1 Tbs. fresh rosemary

2 Tbs. fresh parsley

1 can diced tomatoes

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

2 Tbs. Parmesan cheese (or vegan Parmesan)

cooked spaghetti or other noodles

Directions: 

Use a food processor to pulse the onion, garlic, chili pepper until they are nearly minced and the cauliflower is about the size of rice grains. Heat the olive oil in a non stick skillet. Add the onion, garlic, pepper, and cauliflower and cook for several minutes. Add the mushrooms. Put the tofu in the food processor and pulse several times until it is a size similar to the other vegetables. Add the tofu to the skillet. Add the tomato paste and herbs and cook for about 1 minute more, until the herbs are fragrant. Put the tomatoes in the food processor and pulse so that they are broken up into small pieces. Add the tomatoes to the skillet, along with the cayenne pepper. Cook the noodles according to package directions. To serve, mound some of the noodles on a plate, and top with some of the sauce, and Parmesan. 

Serves 4

Stealthy Cooking Tip: My favorite gluten free noodles are made by Tinkyada Joy company, and it's been very difficult to find any type in any of my regular stores. I just ordered 12 boxes from Amazon today ... and hopefully won't run out again for a very long time!