Vegan Spaghetti Bolognese (easy recipe) (2024)

FAQs

What can I use instead of meat in spaghetti bolognese? ›

There are many delicious and nutritious options to substitute for meat in spaghetti. Some popular choices include diced vegetables such as mushrooms, bell peppers, and zucchini, as well as plant-based protein sources like tofu, tempeh, or lentils.

Spaghetti sauce often uses canned tomatoes as opposed to fresh ones, so the taste isn't quite as bright and fresh as bolognese, which makes use of chopped up fresh vegetables rather than sauces from a jar or tin.

Spaghetti bolognese, or shortened to "spag bol" in the UK, is a popular pasta dish outside Italy, although not part of Italian cuisine. The dish is generally perceived as inauthentic by Italians.

The best tip for intensifying the flavour of your sauce is just to cook it slowly on a low heat for a long time. This reduces the sauce and intensifies the flavours – four hours is not uncommon for my bolognese.

Whereas true Bolognese is just as much about the aromatic base of vegetables as it is the meat, Italian-American versions are very meat-heavy (and often use red wine) and more reminiscent of southern Italian dishes.

It all comes down to the meat and tomatoes. While both are pasta sauces, Bolognese places more emphasis on the meat.

While they are both part of the allium family, shallots tend to have a sweeter taste that's less sharp than your average onion. Spring onions, leeks and chives might work as well but do keep in mind that they're hardly perfect substitutes as they're more peppery than they are sharp and pungent.

The Italians traditionally eat the Bolognese with tagliatelle, a flat strand egg pasta similar to fettuccine. You can use other flat ribbon pasta like papardelle or tripoline. I personally use this sauce with any and all pastas though. And I love mixing it with tube pastas like rigatoni or penne.

Even though both are considered meat sauces and are thusly chunky, ragù is more like a thick tomato sauce with recognizable bits of ground beef within it. Bolognese, though, is creamier and thicker because it is made with milk. It is not considered to be a tomato sauce.

What does Bolognese mean in Italian? ›

1. : of, relating to, or characteristic of Bologna, Italy. 2. : being or prepared with tomato sauce flavored with meat.

It sounds unconventional to use milk in a meaty red sauce, but upon further investigation, it makes total sense why Italians swear by it. According to our Food Director Amira, not only does milk add a rich flavour to the bolognese, but it also “helps cut through the acidity of the tomatoes and red wine”.

Take bolognese; you might be used to eating it with spaghetti, but no self-respecting Italian would ever serve a meaty ragú like this with such a thin pasta shape. Substantial sauces call for substantial pasta shapes, so a wider, flatter shape like tagliatelle or pappardelle is more appropriate.

Hate to be the guy, but bolognese is not a tomato sauce but a meat ragu. Actually, if you make it authentic there should be no tomato in it at all. First you make a sofritto of carrots, onions and celery and fry it in a pan in some olive oil and some finely diced cured pancetta. Add beef.

Just add seasoning and the flavour will be completely different from what you're used to. You can add various herbs, too. Try a teaspoon of dried Italian mixed herbs (added at the start) or a tablespoon of fresh, chopped oregano (added towards the end) in the meat sauce.

Take your time with the Bolognese sauce. Allow it to simmer slowly, at a low temperature, to allow the flavors to fully develop and intensify. This slow-cooking process is essential for achieving the rich, complex taste that makes Bolognese sauce so distinctive.