Spaghetti with Miso, Walnut and Mushroom Ragu
This is a rich, vegan take on spaghetti bolognese, but without the use of alternative vegan mince. The walnuts add a great nubbly texture, the mushrooms add body and flavour, and a whole host of other umami-boosting ingredients give it unrivalled richness and depth.
Method
Based on 4 servings, adjust as needed.
Step 1
Dice the onions. In a large pan on a medium heat, slowly sweat them in the olive oil with a pinch of salt and the herbs, stirring occasionally while you also chop your mushrooms into 1cm dice. When the onions have softened, add the mushrooms to the pan with another pinch of salt, and stir until they release some of their water (you may have to add slightly more oil here) and start to colour. The process will take 10-15 minutes. Grate or crush in your garlic.
Step 2
While the mushrooms are browning, toast your walnuts in a separate dry frying pan or a low oven and then crush roughly using either a pestle and mortar, or simply leave to cool slightly and use your hands like some sort of domestic Hulk. You want them to be the texture of chunky breadcrumbs. Add the crushed walnuts to the softened onions and mushrooms.
Step 3
Next, add in your tomato paste, and stir to coat everything and then deglaze with the red wine. Add in your stock, tomatoes and miso, then bring everything up to a boil for 10 minutes. Add in your green lentils (no need to drain) before turning everything down to a simmer for a good 20 minutes. As always with any ragu, the longer this sits for, the better, but test and adjust for seasoning after 10 minutes of simmering. If it’s looking at all dry, top up with some water from the kettle, or some more red wine if you like.
Step 4
10 minutes before you want to serve this, cook your pasta according to packet instructions, saving some of the pasta water before draining it. Then mix the pasta with around 2/3s of the ragu, adding a splash of the pasta water to help the sauce cling (you can always use all of it, but I find reserving a third for later gives the best ratio of sauce to pasta here - and you get leftovers!).
Step 5
Serve with vegan parmesan-style cheese or parmesan cheese if you aren't vegan.
- Ingredients
- Based on 4 servings
-
100g Salad Bag 1x Sainsbury's Italian Style Salad 100g -
190ml Red Wine, approx 1x Sainsbury's House Merlot (Small bottle) 18.7cl -
1 Tin Chopped Tomatoes 1x Stamford Street Co. Chopped Tomatoes in Tomato Juice 400g -
100g Walnuts, roasted 1x Sainsbury's Walnuts, Pieces 200g -
1 Tin Cooked Green Lentils 1x Sainsbury's Green Lentils In Water 400g (265g*) -
3 tbsp Olive Oil 1x Sainsbury's Olive Oil 500ml -
400g Spaghetti, or Linguine 1x Sainsbury's Spaghetti Pasta 500g -
2 Onions, diced 2x Sainsbury's Onions Loose -
3 Garlic, grated 1x Sainsbury's Garlic -
1 tsp Dried Rosemary, sub with dried mixed herbs 1x Sainsbury's Rosemary 22g -
2 tbsp Miso Paste, substitute with soy sauce if needed 1x Miso Tasty Organic White Miso 110g -
200ml Vegetable Stock 1x Sainsbury's Stock Cubes, Vegetable 10x10g -
3 tbsp Tomato Paste 1x Sainsbury's Tomato Puree, Double Concentrate 200g -
40g Italian Style Hard Cheese, grated, veggie or vegan 1x Nurishh Grated Gran Vegiano 150G
-
1 tsp Thyme 1x Sainsbury's Thyme 12g -
500g Mushrooms, chopped 2x Sainsbury's Chestnut Closed Cup Vitamin D Mushrooms 300g