HERMOINE'S SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE

Spaghetti Bolognese is the ultimate comfort food for me. I made a lot of different versions over the years. Added a lot of my own magical touch of course. But this is the ultimate vegan bolognese in my opinion because you can not really tell the difference between a meat based sauce or this one.  And I will show you the recipe now!

For 4 muggles:

- 400 gram packet vegan mince (I used Naturli) 

- 250 grams of chestnut/button mushrooms
- 7 cloves of garlic
- 1 red bell pepper (finely diced)
- 1 medium size carrot
- half a bulb of fennel (finely diced)
- 2 sticks of celery (optional)
- 1 red onion
- 2 tsp nutritional yeast
- 4 sprigs of fresh thyme + rosemary
- 1 tbsp dried rosemary and oregano
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinagar
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp maple syrup

- 4 tbsp soy cream 
- 100 ml vegan red wine (optional)
- 1 tbsp tomato paste

- 700 grams of passata (Mutti is my favorite with basil)
- 1,5 tsp  ground paprika
- 2 drops of liquid smoke
- salt and pepper to taste 

First slice the veggies: fennel - carrot - bell pepper and spring onions  and set aside (as fine as possible). Slice the chestnut mushrooms also. Heat up a big pan with a shot of olive oil. Add the finely sliced veggies and salt and pepper. It is important to season at every stage you add anything to pan otherwise you have bland food. 

Let the veg sweat out for 5-10 min to create a beautiful base for the sauce. Then and the mushrooms and all of the spices. Including a bit of salt and pepper. Season at every stage! Mix until combined and let the mushrooms get golden brown. 

Heat up another pan to fry up the minced beef. Fry off until 'cooked' with salt and pepper and 2 drops of liquid smoke. Then add to the other pan and mix until combined. Let the flavours get to know each other for 3-4 minutes and then add your tomato paste. Always let the tomato paste cook out he acid and add a glug of maple syrup for balance.  Then add the red wine and the vinagar and stir around a let that bubble away for 3 minutes until evaporated. Finally add the passata. To clean out the bottle add some water and also add that to the pan. We want nothing to go to waste! Cook the sauce for 25 minutes on a low heat. Let it bubble away and become a flavour bomb. Always taste your sauce if it needs salt, pepper, maple syrup or italian spices. 

Pasta: I used 500 grams of linguini pasta. I love this pasta shape so much! Nice and al dente cooked is a real treat!  But use any vegan pasta you desire!

Garnish:

- Basil or parsley 
- Vegan grated cheese like mozzarella and parmesan
- Pumpkin seeds

How I serve this ultimate spaghetti bolognese? With a glass of red wine of course. Mostly with a vegan Waldorf salad with Granny Smith apple and walnuts . And sometimes garlic bread if I really need the comfort .

ENJOY THE MAGIC!