Walnut Bolognese
Perfect cold-weather comfort food! Delish over spaghetti or a baked sweet potato!
Ingredients
1 cup walnuts
2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
3 garlic cloves, crushed and finely diced
½ tspn sea salt
Black pepper, freshly ground
1 tspn dry oregano
1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 tbsp fresh thyme, finely chopped
1 tspn smoked paprika
1 tbsp tamari
½ cup red wine
1 tbsp freshly ground flax (avoid pre-ground, buy the seeds and grind in a spice grinder)
1 tbsp chickpea miso
3 tbpn nutritional yeast
2 tbpn olive oil
1 large can tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup black lentils, rinsed (soaked if possible CLICK HERE to find out why)
Equipment
1 heavy-bottomed medium sized pan
Food processor
Method
Heat a heavy-bottomed pan on a medium flame
Once warmed, add the walnuts and toast until fragrant, around 4 minutes, being careful not to allow them to burn. Remove from the heat and pour the walnuts onto a plate, set aside
Place the pan back on the flame
Add the olive oil to the pan to warm
Add the onion and sauté until soft and sweet, around 7 minutes
Add the garlic and continue to sauté, around 3 minutes
Add the salt and pepper
Add the oregano, rosemary and thyme and continue to sauté until fragrant, 3-5 minutes
Add the smoked paprika, tamari and red wine, allowing the liquids to deglaze the pan, scraping the browned, caramelized pieces from the bottom of the pan, around 3 minutes. Allow to cool briefly. Wipe out the pan and put to one side (you will need it again!)
Set up the food processor and add the walnuts, pulsing a few times until crumbly.
Add the onion mixture, miso and flax and pulse until combined
Place the pan back on the flame, adding the olive oil. Once warmed, scrape the walnut/onion mixture into the pan and begin to sauté. Sauté, allowing the mixture to brown a little (but not burn!) before taking a wooden spoon and moving the mixture around. You want to create a “crumble” texture, it shouldn’t be wet but also not totally dried out. It can take up to 10 minutes. Whilst doing this I sometimes add a little more salt, pepper and smoked paprika and sometimes a little more oil, if it looks like it’s needed.
Once you have created the “crumble”, pour in the tomatoes, add the black lentils and nutritional yeast. Gently simmer until the lentils are cooked and you have a thick, rich sauce, around 15- 20 minutes. Add a small amount of water (1-2 tbsp at a time) if needed.
Serve with pasta, over polenta (soft or fried!) or even rice! You can also play with the herbs, if you only have thyme or rosemary, that’s fine. In the summer you could use basil. Add in more nutritional yeast. Play around!
