Spaghetti bolognese, or 'spag bowl' as we call it in lazy-person, slang Australian, is a dinnertime classic. A staple really, and a meal that you will highly, highly likely find making a regular appearance on dining room tables across Australia and indeed, much of the developed world.
I've always loved spaghetti bolognese, especially so because I grew up in a lovely little town in the middle of nowhere in regional Australia where, rather surprisingly, we had something like 60% of the town population claim direct Italian heritage. The place was affectionately known as 'Little Italy' and most delightfully, all those Italians brought with them their fabulous cuisine. Because the heritage to Italy was so immediate amongst so much of the town, this little city had an oversupply of Italian restaurants, but not just any old restaurants, rather ones that had a nonna in the kitchen either cooking herself or supervising, and they used genuine, passed-down through the generations, family recipes. The food, as a result, was totally off the charts AMAZING, which meant that when I ate out with my parents and inevitably ordered 'spaghetti bolognese', I didn't just get any old pasta and sauce, oh no - I got the mother of all spaghetti bolognese's that was legitimately too delicious for this world.
As a result, I have exceptionally high standards when it comes to pasta and spaghetti bolognese. Pasta is usually one the easiest dishes to vegan-ise, but generally speaking, despite some people's best intentions, just because it's vegan, doesn't mean it was remotely satisfying. Something restaurants and lazy-chefs alike are guilty for is giving the vegan some plain old tomato pasta. Now, I'm not one to hate on a good quality tomato pasta sauce, but sometimes it's nice to have some substance to the meal, something 'meaty' as such (though sans meat obviously). Enter lentils, i.e. the great secret ingredient. Lentils are truly fantastic because they don't carry a strong taste, weird texture or anything else bizarre, and instead add a level of substance to a pasta sauce that cannot be found in a regular old plain tomato one. They're also loaded with protein, and in the interests of #VeganGainz, we're all about that protein!
Ingredients;
6 large tomatoes
400gm canned diced tomatoes (I use a no salt added brand)
425gm canned lentils
2 tbsp tomato paste (concentrated puree)
4 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp (approx.) mixed dried herbs
1 large brown onion
2 cloves garlic, crushed (or tsp minced garlic)
1 tsp minced red chilli (optional)
1 large carrot, finely diced
1 zucchini, finely diced
250gm gluten free spaghetti
1. Preheat an oven to 180 degrees celsius (fan forced.) Roughly dice the 6 tomatoes and spread them out on a baking tray. Drizzle approx. 2 tbsp olive oil over the top, along with 1 tbsp mixed dried herbs and some cracked black pepper. Roast for approx. 40 minutes.
2. Place a large saucepan over medium heat. Finely dice the onion and add to the saucepan along with 2 tbsp olive oil and the garlic. Cook for 3-5 minutes, or until lightly browned. If using chilli, add that in at this stage.
3. Add in the diced tomatoes, diced carrot, diced zucchini and tomato paste. Mix through and turn the heat down to low.
4. Take the canned lentils and drain them. Rinse them well with cold water. Add to the saucepan.
5. When the tomatoes have finished roasting, remove them from the oven and add them into the saucepan, along with the remainder of your dried herbs and some extra cracked black pepper.
6. Add in 1 cup water and mix through. Allow to cook for 30 minutes on low heat.
7. Cook the spaghetti as per packet instructions. When cooked, drain and return to the now empty saucepan you cooked it in. Scoop in approx. 1/2 the bolognese sauce and mix through. Serve garnished with either some fresh basil or rocket (arugula).
8. Keep the remainder of the sauce in an airtight container in the fridge (will keep for several days), or place it in the freezer to be defrosted and used later!
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