Half an Hour Vegetarian Spaghetti Bolognese

After I was totally taken over by my blog I went and totally neglected it! I don't think I've been here for a week now. I haven't really cooked anything special either :( I tried making pol (coconut) toffee but that didn't work out. Everything else has been same old, same old.

Yesterday I got to pig out! I took my Asian noodle salad to the chivara pujava and got to eat an awesome Sri Lankan lunch. The salad didn't turn out too well, not something that I would try again, but the rest of the food was delicious! I don't know when I last had gotukola sambol, it tasted so good. Needless to say I am still stuffed a day later.

But this post is not about Sri Lankan food, it's about Italian food and to be specific our all time favourite spaghetti bolognese. My kids absolutely love spaghetti bolognese just like all the other kids. Mine has a bit of twist and contains some vegetables as well. This recipe is one of those keepers. We've been eating it for at least 8 years now. Unknowingly my oldest helped come up with the recipe when she was about 2 years old!

Serves 4; Preparation time: 30 mins.

Ingredients:

250 g	Spaghetti
2 tbsp.	Olive oil
100 g	Vegetarian mincemeat
1/2 cup	Corn
1/2 cup	Peas
500 ml	Pasta sauce (tomato)
1/4 cup	Whipping cream
1/2 cup	Cheese

Method:

Oh this is the simplest of recipes and it gets consumed so fast that I had to wait to post this until I could get a photo of the finished product!

The first thing you need to do is to boil the water for the spaghetti. If you want to speed up the process then boil the water in the kettle and then transfer it to the pot. Another way I speed up this recipe is to use super fine spaghetti (called capellini) that cooks in 3 minutes. With both of these tricks I can actually get the dinner on the table in 20 minutes.

Once the water boils put in the spaghetti, give it a stir to make sure all the past is covered with water, bring water back to the boil and set a timer according to the instructions on the packet.

Now comes the tedious job of making the sauce. Put a heavy bottomed saucepan on the stove and put it on medium high. Once the pot is hot add the olive oil and then the vegetarian mincemeat.

Just a note about the vegetarian mincemeat: There are many types of such "fake" meats out there. Some are fine and some are not. I prefer the fine fake meat because you don't notice the texture so much. In Germany I've found two types. The first is produced by Eyckeler Malt and I'm not a fan of their "granules".

Basically they rot too quickly and frequently grow mold before their expiry date. But once upon a time that was all I could get. Now I buy this type:

The granules are much finer and it's much better packed. The only deal with this one is that it is so tightly vacuum packed that I have to first break up the "meat" with my fingers. And no it doesn't make it any easier when the stuff is warm. I thought that it might fall apart once it was in the pan and heating up, but it doesn't.


Now back to the pot! The vegetarian mince does not have to cook for long. 2 - 3 minutes should do the trick. Next add in the corn, peas and pasta sauce and stir everything up. Bring the sauce to the boil and add in the cream.

The cheese can either be added to the pasta sauce or saved to sprinkle on top. I usually sprinkle Parmesan and any other cheese I put in the pot. If you have any herbs you could add them now. I usually have basil growing near by so I throw a bit of that in, or maybe some dried oregano.  But herbs are not a necessity.


By now the spaghetti is done so drain it, wash it under cold water and then put it into the pot with the sauce and mix it all up. Heat it through and it's ready to be served.

Now I'm really sorry about the lack of pictures but it got consumed to fast and I haven't made it again since.