24 June 2011

Eggplant Bolognese Sauce


This recipe was so good. It's hearty and woodsy but almost completely guilt free. I adapted it from the Whole Foods version in a way that makes it no longer vegan but I think my changes gave the sauce a lot more depth of flavor. If you're a vegan or vegetarian, be sure to follow the original recipe and I'm sure it will turn out just fine. It makes a ton of sauce. I froze half of it and used the other half for a couple days worth of leftovers.


Ingredients:

1 cup dry red wine
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium eggplant (about 1 pound), peeled and chopped
12 ounces button or cremini mushrooms, chopped
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups beef broth (I used bouillon cubes and watered it down a little to cut the salt)
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2/3 cup plain unsweetened almond milk
1 pound whole wheat or other whole grain pasta

Method:

Bring red wine to a simmer in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery and garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent and very tender and most of the wine has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Add eggplant, mushrooms and rosemary and cook until vegetables are tender, about 5 to 10 minutes. Stir in tomato paste and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add tomatoes, broth and pepper and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat and stir in almond milk.

To serve, cook pasta in boiling water until al dente. Drain thoroughly. Serve sauce over pasta.



35 comments:

  1. Interesting! I'm wondering, how would substituting beef broth make it taste better? Do you like the unsweetened almond milk? Ben bought it once, i couldn't stomach it just drinking it, lol :) now we usually buy the original. I am sure unsweetened is great for cooking though.

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  2. The original recipe called for no-salt-added everything but I used regular canned stuff...lest it be bland. And I didn't have veggie broth on hand. Since it calls for red wine beef broth would go better than chicken broth. The beef broth just added a nice hearty flavor. I'm sure veggie broth would do just fine. I just know a lot of the reviews on Whole Foods said it was a little bit bland and tasteless. The veggie broth is fine I'm sure if you like the flavor it gives...but I def would not do the no-salt-added.

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  3. Oh, and yeah, I couldn't drink the regular almond milk on its own. Ick. But it was good in the sauce and in smoothies. I also made overnight oats this morning with it and it tastes pretty darn good. I sweetened it up with carob powder.

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  4. Wow, I could eat this right now it looks so good!

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  5. This looks amazing!!! I love pasta sauce, but not a fan of ground beef...and I could totally do this! Thanks for sharing Hannah :)

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  6. This looks delicious. I have been craving pasta in this rainy weather!

    Hope you have a wonderful weekend! PS I didnt clean out my purse...I am a little OCD with my stuff. :) Thanks for visiting my blog!

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  7. I was about to say almond milk = puke! But if you say it's good with the sauce, I might try it out...

    K.

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  8. I'm always looking for good recipes that use eggplant (which I love and Kyle hates)! This looks so good. Now I'm starving. Maybe I should have eaten breakfast. Sigh.

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  9. Ooohhh we had something similar last night but it definitely didn't look this scrumptious! I can't say I have ever used almond milk in cooking before but I guess it helps balance the acidity? I love that I can have a night off and use the rest out of the freezer!

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  10. oh yum. Ok I officially am trying this. I love new recipes, and I figure if it's good enough to blog about it must be delicious!

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  11. Looks marvelous! Definitely putting this one in my recipe book. I adore eggplant!
    xo
    Alexa
    www.theshortandthesweetofit.com

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  12. Mmmm looks delicious I will have to try sometime. I have a newfound appreciation for eggplant, too.

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  13. That sure looks yummy...will have to try this. Enjoy your weekend. xx

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  14. What a great idea! This looks just as good as the beef version...and hearty too! Thanks for sharing!!

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  15. Really nice blog! :)

    Louise Cecilie // www.LouiseCecilie.blogspot.com

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  16. so yummy! thanks for stopping by my blog lately.

    since i'm not the chef and my husband is, i'll just forward this to him!

    have a great weekend!

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  17. It's almost lunch time. Can you come over and cook this for me? I'm a disaster in the kitchen, I can only bake cakes and bread and do the simple things...I need a good cook!

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  18. i absolutely love eggplant, i need to try this

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  19. huge fan of eggplant, I can't wait to try this!

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  20. It looks fantastic and the ingredients sound...interesting ;-) I do agree on the beef vs chicken broth with red wine, I'd always go for beef with the red. Will have to try this. Have a lovely evening xo

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  21. Oooh this looks LOVELY and sounds DELISH! Yum yum. Makes me hungry.

    I am loving the look of your super cute blog! I can't wait to read more & more! :)

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  22. mmm! looks great! what a fun bowl/dish!

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  23. i've recently discovered that i love eggplant (after years and years of refusing to try it) and this recipe sounds like a delicious! love that the sauce has all kinds of veggies!

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  24. It looks so delicious!!!
    I wan to try it!

    akiko,
    from kimonosnack!

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  25. i've only really liked eggplant in chinese food. I'll have to try it like this.

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  26. This looks wonderful :) I've been using my marathon training as an excuse to eat lots (& lots, haha!) of pasta... I can't wait to make this & serve it over a bed of thin spaghetti!

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  27. This looks soooo good!
    I usually just eat eggplant in my emerald thai curry but this looks fab and the addition of wine means i have to make it asap :o)

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  28. i made baked ziti on Friday ... it was NOT guilt free :( i attempted with whole wheat pasta, and turkey meat but once the ricotta and 13 other cheeses were added, it meant bring on the guilt, mama's hungry!
    I'll be filing your recipe away for safekeeping!

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  29. I'm trying to cut back on pasta, but this photo is making me hungry - looks delish!

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  30. Eggplant is a shockingly tasty veggie! Actually, the good thing about eggplant is that it takes on the flavor of the dish. And did you know that you don't have to peel them? This was a relief to me because peeling was a pain!

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  31. always such wholesome and amazing recipes around here:) I'm gonna try this one with gluten free noodles! mmm.

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