Bethany's Vegan Kitchen

This hearty bolognese sauce uses tofu as the “mince”. Tofu really is so versatile, as long as you give it lots of flavour, it can be used for all sorts of things. This tofu was pressed, crumbled and cooked making it a great swap for mince in this tasty pasta dish. The texture of this mince is a little softer than some mock meats, but it’s ideal if you want to eat more minimally processed foods

Yield; Four servings Cook time; One hour 15 minutes

Start by making the tofu mince, for this you’ll need;

1. 10g dairy free butter
2. One pack of firm or extra firm tofu, I used a 396g pack of Cauldron firm tofu
3. Two tablespoons of soy sauce
4. One teaspoon of smoked paprika
5. Half a teaspoon of liquid smoke
6. One teaspoon of fish free Worcester sauce
7. Half a teaspoon of gravy browning

Method;

• Start by preparing the tofu. If you’re using firm tofu it will need to be pressed for at least 30 minutes. If you’re using extra firm tofu you won’t need to press it, just pat it dry
• Crumble the tofu into very small pieces and pop it into a bowl
• Melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add in the tofu and cook for 10 minutes. While the tofu cooks, whisk everything else together in a small bowl until well combined
• Pour the mixture over the tofu and quickly stir to combine. Once everything is well mixed, set the tofu aside

For the sauce you’ll need;

1. 15g dairy free butter
2. One small brown onion, minced
3. One stick of celery, diced
4. One small carrot, peeled and diced
5. Three cloves of garlic, minced
6. One tablespoon of tomato puree
7. One 400g tin of plum tomatoes, blended until smooth
8. 250g passata
9. Half a teaspoon of both oregano and basil
10. 300g (this is the dry, uncooked weight) spaghetti

Method;

• In the same pan you cooked the tofu in, melt the butter over a medium heat. Once it’s melted, add in the onion, celery and carrot. Give them ten minutes to cook and then add in the garlic
• Give the garlic a couple of minutes to cook before adding in the tomato puree. Cook the tomato puree off for another two or three minutes, then add in the tomatoes, passata and herbs. Season to taste with salt and black pepper
• Pop a lid on the sauce and reduce the heat to the lowest setting. Allow the sauce to simmer for 45 minutes, stirring every now and then
• Finally boil the pasta as per the instructions on the packet, while the pasta cooks add the tofu mince into the sauce to heat through. Once the pasta is cooked, drain it thoroughly and stir it through the sauce. Once the pasta is evenly coated with the sauce, serve immediately