The perfect spaghetti bolognese

This delicious meat free bolognese sauce uses red wine, chestnut mushrooms and lots of vegetables and is the perfect low-fat, vegan dinner

One of my favourite dishes is bolognese, after our time in Bologna, Italy last year we also have high standards after tasting the real thing. I experimented many times to perfect this dish so I hope you'll love it!

🥘 Ingredients

• olive oil
• chestnut mushrooms 
• onions 
• garlic 
• carrots 
• celery 
• thyme 
• celery salt 
• star anise 
• tomato purée 
• chopped tomatoes 
• Spaghetti

🔪 Instructions

Heat a large non-stick frying pan and when hot add a tbsp of olive oil.

Add the diced mushrooms along with a pinch of salt and some pepper. Lower heat to medium. Saute the mushrooms until soft but not crispy.

Increase the heat back up to high and fry until mushrooms are a rich golden brown.

Remove the mushrooms from the pan and add in the onions, garlic cloves, chopped carrots and celery and another glug of oilve oil.

Stir well, reduce the heat to low and put a lid on and then let cook for 10 minutes, stir every few minutes.

Add to the pan the herbs, celery salt, star anise, tomato purée and the red wine. Add the cooked mushrooms back to the pan.

Let simmer for a few minutes and then add in your tinned tomatoes.

Cook for 30 minutes until you are left with a thick sauce.

Cook the spaghetti according to the pack instructions, drain and add to the bolognese sauce, ensuring you combine fully so that every spaghetti strand is coated in the sauce.

💭 Top tip

This dish is an excellent one to make ahead and then refrigerate or freeze. It'll keep for up to 3 months in the freezer or 3 days in the fridge.

📖 Variations

For a more authentic version replace the spaghetti with tagliatelle. Linguine also works well for this dish..

👪 Serving size

The quantities in this recipe creates enough for 4 decent sized portions but it also scales up easily. So just double the quantities to serve 8 or for a bigger portion size.

Can it be made in advance?

Yes it can be made in advance and frozen for up to three months and refrigerated for up to 3 days.

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Recipe - The perfect spaghetti bolognese sauce

This delicious meat free bolognese sauce uses red wine, chestnut mushrooms and lots of vegetables and is the perfect low-fat, vegan dinner

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time45 mins

Total Time1 hr 15 mins

Author: admin

Course: Uncategorized

Cuisine: Italian

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 500 g chestnut mushrooms finely diced
• 2 onions chopped
• 4 cloves garlic crushed
• 2 carrots grated
• s stalks of celery finely chopped
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp celery salt
• 1 star anise
• 2 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 x 14oz tin of chopped tomatoes
• 400 g Spaghetti

Instructions

• Heat a large non-stick frying pan and when hot add a tbsp of olive oil.
• Add the diced mushrooms along with a pinch of salt and some pepper. Lower heat to medium. Saute the mushrooms until soft but not crispy.
• Increase the heat back up to high and fry until mushrooms are a rich golden brown.
• Remove the mushrooms from the pan and add in the onions, garlic cloves, chopped carrots and celery and another glug of oilve oil.
• Stir well, reduce the heat to low and put a lid on and then let cook for 10 minutes, stir every few minutes.
• Add to the pan the herbs, celery salt, star anise, tomato purée and the red wine. Add the cooked mushrooms back to the pan.
• Let simmer for a few minutes and then add in your tinned tomatoes.
• Cook for 30 minutes until you are left with a thick sauce.
• Cook the spaghetti according to the pack instructions, drain and add to the bolognese sauce, ensuring you combine fully so that every spaghetti strand is coated in the sauce.

Notes

This dish is an excellent one to make ahead and then refrigerate or freeze. It’ll keep for up to 3 months in the freezer or 3 days in the fridge.