Vegetarian Bolognese Sauce (Vegetarian)

Member Name: englishrose

Product:	Vegetarian
Date:	25/03/09 (229 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tasty.Versatile. Cheap

Disadvantages: Only if you don't like it !

Vegetarian Bolognese Sauce

This is my own made-up recipe, honed and tweaked over the years !

I make this at least twice a week, as it's cheap, tasty and versatile: This recipe is totally flexible, as you can add in other ingredients that you may need to use up, or leave out any that you don't like. Obviously if you want to use meat instead of meat-free mince, it works just as well.

It's brilliant for people who don't like vegetables, as they 'disappear' into the sauce. (The vegetables that is, not the people!).

It's even good for babies: My children had this, pureed down of course, and loved it. As they got older and became toddlers, I did the same but pureed it less and less over time. However, I always leave out the stock or marmite if making it for very young babies as they cannot have too much salt.

Enjoy!


Ingredients
~~~~~~~~

1 - A pack of meat-free mince: You can use Quorn, or Tesco do their own brand which is cheaper and you get a bigger bag
2 - A chopped onion (or for speed, I sometimes use a bag of frozen chopped 3 - onion, saves the tears too!)
4 - A finely chopped celery stick
5 - A finely chopped or grated carrot
6 - Approx 250g red lentils, dry weight
7 - Tin of chopped tomatoes ( I just use Tesco Value brand and these are fine!)
8 - Seasoning: I use a teaspoon of Marmite dissolved into a bit of boiling water, but you could easily use a bit of soy sauce or a stock cube
9 - Around half a pint of boiling water in a jug - or the same amount of stock made up if you want to use that for seasoning.
10 - Herbs of your choice: Oregano being the best one for bolognese flavour.
11 - Crushed Garlic if you like it. If not, it doesn't matter. Quantity according to your taste.

Method
~~~~~

Cover the red lentils with cold water in a seperate pan on their own, and bring to the boil. When this is done, cover and simmer for around 15 minutes until the water has absorbed and they have gone mushy.(When they are added into the main sauce , they 'disappear').

Meanwhile, gently fry the onion, carrot and celery together in a deep frying pan.

Then add the mince and fry gently for a short while, keep stirring it.

By this time , the lentils are ready, so add them into the mix. If you are going to use garlic, add this in now.

Then add in the tin of tomatoes, the seasoning and/or stock. Adjust to suit with water/stock.

Keep stirring it, cook for a few minutes, then turn down to 'simmer' and pop a lid on it to prevent too much splatter!

Simmer for around 15 minutes, adjusting the consistency to how you like it, with more stock/water. Stir occasionally.



Serve with spagetti, or indeed any pasta shape that you prefer.

Also very good on rice and couscous.

I like to make double quantities of this, then turn it into a chili for the next day's dinner by simply adding a tin of red kidney beans and chili flakes to taste - goes beautifully inside tortilla wraps with a bit of lettuce, or on a bed of rice :)

This is also the sauce that I use for lasagne.


I wasn't sure how to rate this: I've given it 5 stars because I like it and all the family always eat it ... but it's a matter of taste though isn't it? :)

Summary: a base that can be used for all sorts of different dishes