FODMAP Friendly Vegan Bolognese
Gluten free, grain free, vegan, FODMAP friendly*Cups and measures are in Australian cups and measures. Use gram weights for international accuracy. *1 Australian tablespoon = 4 Canadian, US and New Zealand teaspoons or 3 1/2 British teaspoons
Ingredients
- 60ml (3 tablespoons)* olive oil
- 2-3 large carrots, finely cubed or grated
- 1 bunch spring onion greens, chopped
- 20ml (1 tablespoon)* balsamic vinegar
- 40m (2 tablespoons)* tamari
- 1 tablespoon* miso paste make sure it’s gluten free
- 2 tablespoons* tomato paste make sure it’s not flavoured
- 2 tablespoons* light brown sugar or maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon* dried sage powder (for a meaty taste)
- 1 - 1 1/2 cups (250-375ml) red wine you could probably substitute water, although the sauce won’t be as rich
- Generous freshly cracked pepper
- 1-2 X 400g tins (800g) unflavoured tomatoes see notes
- 450-500g Frozen and defrosted tofu
- Water, as necessary
Optional flavour boosters
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg powder (less if you grate it freshly)
- 1/4 cup sundried tomatoes, drained and finely chopped (for a meaty umami hit)
- 1-2 teaspoons truffle oil (for meaty funk)
- Chilli powder, to taste (I like Aleppo pepper because it has a smokey flavour
Instructions
- Get your ingredients ready. This can become a fast moving recipe, so it's easier to have everything organised in advance. Chop the carrots and place them in a large bowl. Have the tofu defrosted and torn into little mince meat sized chunks before you begin.
- Add the olive oil to a large heavy bottomed saucepan or pot over a medium heat. Once warmed, add the chopped carrot (you could also use fennel) and cook for about 5-10 minutes, or until it begins to shrivel and is starting to brown. Add water at any time if it begins to burn. Add the spring onion greens if you're using them and cook until soft.
- While the carrot is cooking, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, Tamari, miso paste, tomato paste, brown sugar and sage powder. Add any flavour boosters you're using, except the truffle oil (it's added at the end so as not to cook out the flavour).
- Add the tofu chunks to the pan and stir to combine. Add the balsamic mixture to the pan and stir again. It should sizzle up and thicken quite quickly.
- Deglaze the pan with the red wine. Take a bit of time to coat everything in the sauce and the wine - this is what colours the tofu and makes the bolognese look so 'realistic'.
- Add the tinned tomatoes, and stir thoroughly. Season with generous freshly cracked pepper.
- Adjust the seasonings if necessary, and continue cooking for 10-15 minutes, adding water to thin the sauce out if you need to.
- You can serve as is, or on a bowl of gluten free pasta. To keep it vegan, sprinkle nutritional yeast or vegan parmesan on top. Personally, I like mine with some freshly grated dairy parmesan.
- This bolognese stores really well in the fridge for a couple of days and can be frozen, too.
Notes
- Monash updated the advice on tomatoes recently. 100g of tinned plain tomatoes is a FODMAP friendly serve. To make this bolognese fit those parameters, it needs to serve 8. This means bulking it out with extra vegetables and using it alongside pasta. If you prefer, you could use 1 - 1 1/2 tins of tomatoes and add a little water. You might need to add an extra tablespoon of tomato paste to give the sauce extra richness.
- Alternatively, use my low FODMAP Nomato sauce recipe to replace one or both cans of tinned tomato.
- Tomato paste is FODMAP friendly in 2 tablespoon serves per person, so you don't need to worry about adding a little extra here.
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