Low FODMAP 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 (optional, see notes)
- 5-10ml (1-2 teaspoons)* red wine vinegar, to taste
- 40m (2 tablespoons)* gluten free dark soy sauce or Tamari
- 10g (1/2 tablespoon)* miso paste make sure it’s gluten free
- 50 g tomato paste make sure it’s not flavoured
- 20-40ml (1-2 tablespoons)* maple syrup, to your tastes
- 1 tablespoon* dried sage powder (for a meaty taste)
- 250ml (1 cup)* red wine (see notes)
- generous freshly cracked pepper
- 1 X 400g tin Roma/Plum tomatoes (see notes)
- 500g firm tofu
- water, if necessary
Optional flavour boosters
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg powder (less if you grate it freshly)
- 1-2 teaspoons truffle oil (for meaty funk)
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 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 red wine vinegar, Tamari, miso paste, tomato paste, maple syrup 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 bowl of sauce mixture and stir to coat the tofu in the sauce. This will create a depth of colour on the tofu (which makes it look more authentic). Add the tofu to the carrots and cook for a minute or so until combined.
- Deglaze the pan with the red wine, then add the tinned tomatoes. Use your spoon to chop/mash the tomatoes into small pieces if necessary. Season with freshly cracked black pepper.
- Adjust the seasonings if necessary and continue cooking for 10-15 minutes
- 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.
- This bolognese stores really well in the fridge for a couple of days and can be frozen, too.
Notes
- Tinned Roma/Plum tomatoes are low FODMAP in 100g serves per person. However, they don't contain moderate amounts of fructose until they exceed 182g per person, which suggests a good amount of wiggle room.
- I recommend Roma/Plum tomatoes here over regular tinned tomatoes, which contain moderate fructose in serves of 132g. Having the extra fructose wiggle room allows you to use the red wine and optional spring onions.
- Alternatively, use my low FODMAP Nomato sauce recipe to replace one or both cans of tinned tomato.
- Red wine is low FODMAP in 150ml serves per person. In 250ml serves, it contains moderate amounts of fructose. This recipe uses 250ml but serves four people.
- Monash have recently added a FODMAP threshold for spring onion greens. They are low FODMAP in 75g serves. In serves of 97g or more, they contain moderate amounts of fructose.
- If you have severe fructose issues, you can leave the spring onions out. You could also experiment with using stock or water instead of the wine and adding a bit more tomato paste to add richness.
- Tomato paste is low FODMAP in 28g serves. In serves of 81g or more, it contains moderate amounts of fructan. This recipe uses 50g which is under the low FODMAP threshold for serve (approximately 12.5g tomato paste per serve).
- Firm tofu is low FODMAP in 170g serves per person. In 175g, it contains moderate amounts of fructans. This recipe uses 500g, which means that there is approximately 125g of tofu per serve.
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