Chinese-Style Bolognese (Vegan Pasta Recipe)
This Chinese-Style Bolognese is satisfyingly saucy, rich, and perfectly umami too. This recipe also uses pantry-friendly ingredients with some that you can opt not to use. Hope you enjoy this one! Check ou the video below for more tasty pasta ideas!
Ingredients
Pasta
- 200 g dry spaghetti or other pasta of choice
Protein
- 1 cup rehydrated TVP textured vegetable protein, see notes for substitutes
For Sautéing
- 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 1 small onion diced
- Chopped scallion plus more for garnishing (optional)
- 1 small red bell pepper diced (optional)
- Pinch salt to taste
Sauce
- 1/4 cup soy sauce
- 1 cup vegetable broth or water
- 1 1/2 tbsp hoisin sauce see notes for sub
- 3 tbsp sugar adjust according to desired sweetness (I used coconut sugar)
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 2 tsp sriracha or other chili sauce, adjust according to desired spice (optional), or other hot sauce
- 1/4 tsp pepper
Cornstarch Slurry
- 1 tbsp corn starch
- 2 tbsp room temp. water
To Serve
- Sesame seeds for topping
- Scallions for topping
Instructions
- Mix all the sauce ingredients in a bowl. Feel free to adjust seasoning depending on desired taste. Set aside.
- ln a separate bowl, mix together the corn starch and water for the slurry. Set aside.
- Heat a pot with water. Cook the pasta until chewy or al dente.
- While pasta is cooking, heat a pan over medium high heat. Add in 2 tbsp sesame oil. Once hot, sauté the onion and scallions (if using). Add in the garlic and bell peppers (if using) then sauté until tender. Add in the TVP/lentils/mushrooms/plant-based ground then sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Pour in the sauce and leave to simmer over medium heat.
- Once the sauce boils, give the cornstarch slurry a good mix again. Add in the cornstarch slurry into the sauce. Continuously mix until the sauce starts to thicken.
- Add in the cooked spaghetti and cook until it has absorbed some of the sauce. Season with a pinch of salt or more hoisin sauce to taste, if you'd like. Mix then turn off heat.
- Top with some more chopped scallion and sesame seeds, if desired. Enjoy while hot!
Notes
TVP and other alternatives
- I used 1/2 cup dried TVP and soaked them in hot water for at least 10 minutes before squeezing out the excess liquid. You can also use other plant-based ground meat alternatives, if you'd like.
- Mushrooms like button, shiitake, oyster would also work well! Just make sure to mince them well.
- Cooked lentils are also a good alternative
Hoisin Sauce Alternative
- If you don’t have hoisin sauce, feel free to sub with:
- Option 1 – 1 tbsp tomato ketchup mixed with 1/2 tbsp soy sauce and adjust the sugar in the sauce mix
- Option 2 – equal amount (1 1/2 tbsp) teriyaki sauce (Check out my homemade teriyaki sauce recipe here)
NUTRITIONAL INFO
Calories: 784kcal | Carbohydrates: 117g | Protein: 27g | Fat: 23g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 2401mg | Potassium: 450mg | Fiber: 8g | Sugar: 31g | Vitamin A: 1418IU | Vitamin C: 54mg | Calcium: 110mg | Iron: 5mg
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