As I’m only 6 months into being a dairy-free pescatarian with eggs (I know I’m complicated!), it took me a little while to get used to not having meat sauce on my zoodles or chickpea pasta. Of course in “Little Adapts” fashion, I was determined to make my own vegetarian “meat” sauce so that I could enjoy a home cooked, hearty bowl of pasta that would make me + my clients happy 🙂 It’s great to make a batch and then freeze half of it for a rainy day when you don’t feel like cooking. Hint: the “meat” is legume + veggie based. Here’s what I came up with + hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Vegan Bolognese Sauce

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

2 hours

Total time

2 hours 20 mins

 

Author: Little Adapts By Jax

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¾ of a medium yellow onion diced
• 2 cups diced mini Portobello mushrooms
• ¾ cup diced carrots
• ¾ cup diced celery
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ tsp black pepper
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• ¼ tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• ½ tsp ground nutmeg
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups veggie broth
• 2 cans (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes with juice
• 1 can (14.5 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup dried lentils (rinsed)
• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• ½ tsp dried parsley

Instructions

1. In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add in onions and sauté until they start to brown. Once that happens, add in carrots, celery, + mushrooms. Turn up the heat to medium and allow the veggies to cook for 4 to 5 minutes until they start to soften.
2. Add in garlic, pepper, bay leaves, thyme, oregano, cinnamon + nutmeg and stir. Allow the spices to cook into the veggies for about 1 to 2 minutes. Then add in tomato paste and stir that in for another 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Add in tomato sauce, tomatoes with juice, veggie broth, water + lentils and stir. Bring everything to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low and simmer. Occasionally stirring so everything doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pot for about 15-20 minutes.
4. Add in coconut oil + dried parsley and bring the heat down to low and cover the pot with a lid. Let it simmer and continue to stir occasionally for another 1 to 1.5 hours. Throughout this time, please taste the sauce to see if you would like to add any more spices and make sure that the lentils are softening.
5. Remove bay leaves before serving and serve over Banza pasta, zoodles, or spaghetti squash. Option to add raw greens to the bottom of the bowl for extra nutrients. Enjoy!

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With Health + Happiness Always,
Jax

PS – If you need a new energy ball, check out my Matcha Race Day Energy Balls here! They are amaze-balls 🙂