Steps

A simple mushroom based bolognese, with lots of depth.

1. Toast fennel and pepper flakes until fragrant. Add half of the toasted spices with half the mushrooms and pulse in a food processor. Repeat with the second half.
2. Add some oil from the garlic confit or olive oil to a large pot or dutch oven, and add the mushrooms. Fry off until most of the liquid is cooked out. Add oil when things look a bit too dry.
3. Add the onions, carrots, cook until softened.
4. Add tomatopaste and garlic dice if you want. Cook for a few mins until mellowed out.
5. Deglaze with red wine, and then add the milk, soy sauce, walnuts and stock if you want to. Add bay leaf and cook down for 30 minutes, stirring to make sure it doesn’t burn on bottom.
6. Add in the cheese and you’re done
7. Cook pasta and toss with sauce, making sure to use pasta water to thin the sauce to the right consistency.

My notes

1. Definitely don’t make this too often, you’ll get sick of it.
2. Fennel seeds are amazing. I feel like this recipe is extremely boring, but the fennel seeds make it magical.
3. I’m not totally sold on the walnuts in this recipe. I think the idea is to give some texture, but when they’re raw, they just taste like raw walnuts. And when I toast them, I always end up with some slightly burnt pieces - which is okay for something like a banana bread, but it’s a bit strong in this recipe.

Footnotes

1. Cribbed from: https://dishingouthealth.com/vegan-bolognese/