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.