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Vegetarian Bolognese is a rich, luscious won’t-miss-the-meat pasta sauce. Roasting cauliflower and mushrooms deepens the flavor of this satisfying dinner. Double the recipe to eat some now and freeze some for later.

Traditionally, Bolognese is a time consuming, rich, and deeply flavored broth. The meat adds body and umami, but you don’t need meat for a beautiful Bolognese.
In this vegetarian version, while not the same as a traditional Bolognese, roasted cauliflower and mushrooms provide every bit as much flavor and texture as the meat version. Serve it over spaghetti, fettuccini, linguine, or pappardelle noodles, and you’ll enjoy a satisfying, filling dinner full of robust roasted vegetable flavors.
The process of making this is not a slam-dunk in terms of time, but it does provide cooking therapy. When the steps occupy your mind, you can begin to focus on the moment, a good thing when times are challenging.
The cauliflower and mushrooms roast in the oven while you start the sauce. Roasting concentrates and deepens their flavor while you get going on the next few steps on the stovetop.

WHAT IS BOLOGNESE SAUCE?
As the name suggests, Bolognese sauce originated in Bologna, Italy. It is a thick meat sauce made with ground beef or a combination of ground meat such as pork, beef, and veal.
Typically, it starts with a soffritto (finely chopped carrots, celery, and onions) gently cooked in butter. Milk or cream, white wine, and a small amount of tomato enrich the sauce.
The ingredients are added in stages, with each ingredient taking time to cook before adding the next ingredient. When they are all in the pot, the sauce simmers for three to four hours to produce a finished product that is more meat than tomatoes, with a very rich and luscious texture.

HOW TO MAKE THE BEST VEGETARIAN BOLOGNESE
You will not need hours upon hours to cook this sauce, though it is not a throw-it-in-the-pan kind of meal. Paying careful attention at each step will ensure delicious results.
While the meat version includes a soffritto, ground meat, milk, and wine added in stages to deepen the flavors, the vegetable version uses a few other tricks to coax out hearty flavors from the vegetables.
These are:
Brown the onions until golden.
Toast some tomato paste in the skillet.
Roast the cauliflower and mushrooms in the oven.
These little moves take your sauce from just so-so to so, so delicious. Lentils add protein and thicken the sauce, giving it a similar consistency to meat sauce.
INGREDIENT SUBSTITUTIONS
If you don’t have every ingredient for this recipe, it’s easiest to contemplate substitutions when you know purpose they serve.
Cauliflower: Has a neutral flavor that merges seamlessly into the tomato sauce. When chopped into small pieces, it gives the sauce thickness with texture. You could use crumbled textured vegetable protein, small cubes of firm tofu, or roasted chopped carrots and celery.
Mushrooms: Add an umami flavor and could be substituted by the above ingredients or crumbled seitan. Seitan, made from fermented soybeans or whole grains, has a nutty taste.
WHAT KIND OF LENTILS ARE BEST?
Small lentils mimic the texture of ground meat in this vegetarian sauce, while also adding extra protein.
Depending on the type you choose, you may need to adjust the cooking time. Also, since the sauce is made in a wide skillet or sauté pan, more water or vegetable stock may be required, because the liquid in the wide skillet evaporates during longer cooking. You are looking for a consistency that is not soupy, but at the same time, not so thick that it is not pourable. Like, for example, meaty Bolognese sauce!
Red or yellow lentils will be tender after 15 to 20 minutes of cooking, and I prefer the red variety primarily for speedier preparation.
You could use French green (puy) lentils and black lentils. They hold their shape in cooking but take longer to soften.

HOW TO STORE AND FREEZE CAULIFLOWER BOLOGNESE
This is a great sauce to double. Use some now and save the rest for another day when you’re too tired to cook, but not in the mood for pizza.
The Fridge: The sauce will keep in the refrigerator in a covered container for three to four days. Cool to room temperature and refrigerate within two hours of cooking the sauce.
The Freezer: For optimal flavor, use frozen sauce within four to six months. The sauce will still be safe to eat for up to one year. If defrosted in the refrigerator, it will keep for an additional three to four days in the fridge. Use microwaved sauce immediately after reheating.
MORE GREAT VEGETARIAN CAULIFLOWER RECIPES

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1 Roast the chicken: Preheat the oven to 400°F. Arrange the chicken pieces on a sheet pan or baking tray and coat them lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
Place the tray of chicken in the oven and roast for 30 to 35 minutes or until the internal temperature of each piece reaches 160°F to 165°F.
2 Cool, then shred the chicken: Remove the roasted chicken from the oven and allow the meat to cool for 15 minutes at room temperature. Leave the oven on as you’ll need it to bake the assembled pot pie.
Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and shred the meat from the bones using your hands or two forks. Don’t shred the chicken too finely, instead leave nice chunks of meat to create that rustic pot pie filling.
Set the chicken aside while you prepare the rest of the filling. Discard the skin and bones or save them to make bone broth or stock.

3 Sauté the aromatics and make the roux: In a Dutch oven over medium-high heat, melt the butter. Once the butter has melted and begins sizzling, add the white onion, celery, and garlic. Using a large spoon to stir, sauté the vegetables for 3 to 4 minutes or until they become translucent.
Reduce the heat to medium and sprinkle the flour over the veggies and fat in the pot. Stir the flour into the vegetables to create a roux, then cook the mixture for one minute to remove the raw, floury taste. The roux should look pale yellow and leave a thick coating on the vegetables.

4 Make the gravy: In a small bowl or large liquid measuring cup combine the chicken stock and milk. Continuously stir the roux coated vegetables while adding the chicken stock-milk mixture to the vegetables one cup at a time. Once all of the liquid has been added, simmer the gravy until it thickens, about 5 to 6 minutes. The gravy will go from a thick, paste-like consistency to a smooth gravy that coats the back of your spoon.

5 Fold in the shredded chicken and the frozen, thawed vegetables: When the gravy has thickened, fold in the chicken you shredded earlier, the peas and carrots, as well as the rosemary, thyme, and sage. Stir to completely coat the chicken and veg in the gravy.
Taste the mixture and, if needed, adjust the seasoning with the salt and pepper. Pour the filling into a 9 x13-inch baking dish and allow it to cool for 15 minutes.

6 Roll out the puff pastry dough and make the egg wash: On a lightly floured surface use a rolling pin to roll out the sheet of puff pastry into an 11 x 15-inch rectangle that’s 1/8-inch thick. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and water to make an egg wash.
Lay the rolled sheet of puff pastry on top of the baking dish. Brush the surface of the pastry with the egg wash and fold any excess dough over the top of the dough to create a crust. Crimp the edges as you would pie dough, then brush the fluted edge with more egg wash. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the surface of the dough, then use a knife to cut small slits in the surface to act as vents.

7 Bake the pot pie: Place the baking dish on a larger sheet pan to catch any spills in case the filling bubbles over the edge of the dish. Bake the pot pie for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the filling gently bubbles up through the vents.

8 Cool slightly, then serve: After baking, remove the chicken pot pie from the oven and allow it to cool for 15 minutes prior to serving. The filling will be very hot, so take care when eating. LEGGI TUTTO