The MOST SATISFYING Mushroom Bolognese Recipe

It’s so hearty, there won’t be mush-room for desert…

Now everyone’s favorite part of traditional bolognese is the hearty, satisfying, meaty sauce. It’s pretty great. No one is going to deny that. But what if we told you it’s possible to achieve something just as satisfying without any meat (although we do use a little bit of chicken stock to make this possible).

Eating more mushrooms was part of our 2020 food resolution guide, and we have been finding new and exciting ways of incorporating them into our diet.

After a trip to the farmer’s market in which we left with a 5 lb. box of mushrooms, we decided it was perfect for finding a new take on mushroom pastas.

why you’ll love it

Mushrooms are kind of the perfect meat substitute. They have a nice chew. They soak up flavor really well. And they are a great source of umami. Using them as a starting point, there’s a lot of ways to turn them until a hearty and delicious end product.

Our mushroom bolognese is also so satisfying because it incorporates a few techniques for concentrating flavor through caramelization. The order of operations in the recipe is designed to seamlessly build layers of flavor. Each step builds upon the previous, and the final result is a hearty sauce that’s perfect over some fresh noodles.

Additionally, the mix of vegetables offers a great textural contrast that’s often lacking from traditional bolognese. In the end, there should be a balance of soft, firm, elastic, and smooth textures in each bite. And cooking the vegetable mixture in chicken stock (although it can be fully vegetarian through substitution) is one of our little secrets for creative hearty, crave-able veggie dishes.

Besides, nothing tastes better than making environmentally sustainable choices. Onto the recipe.

Do yourself a favor and serve it with some fresh pasta!

The MOST SATISFYING Mushroom Bolognese Recipe

Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total time: 2 hours
Servings: 6 servings | About 2 quarts

Ingredients:

Mushroom Bolognese:
3 pounds of mushrooms, cleaned and chopped into small dice ^
2 carrots, peeled and cut into small dice
2 celery, cut into small dice
6 gloves of garlic, minced
1 yellow onion, chopped into small dice
2 tomatoes, chopped into small dice
1 tablesoon of tomato paste
1/2 cup of red wine
2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock
2 tsp of dried basil
2 tsp of dried oregano
1 tsp of paprika
1 tsp of chili powder
4 springs of thyme
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1/4 cup of grated parmesan

^ Any mushrooms will do here. We opted for a medley of oyster, cremini, chantrelle, and miatake. Fresh mushrooms are preferred, but any mushrooms can be made to be just as delicious!

Garnish:
Parmesan, grated
Sprouts, rinsed
Scallions, thinly sliced

Instructions:

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Working in batches, place the mushrooms into the pot making sure to not overcrowd. Toss occasionally to ensure mushrooms are cooking evenly, about 5 minutes until fully brown. Once the mushrooms are browned, remove from pot and place in a clean bowl.

After browning all batches of mushrooms, add the onions into the pot. Cook for 1 - 2 minutes until onions begin to sweat and turn translucent.

Add both the carrots and celery into the pot and toss with onion until well incorporated. Cook vegetables until softened, about 3 - 5 minutes.

Once vegetables are softened, add the minced garlic and stir to incorporate into the vegetable mixture. Cook until garlic is aromatic, about 1 - 2 minutes.

Push vegetables to one side of pot to leave enough space for the tomato paste. Add tomato paste, and allow to caramelize, about 1 - 2 minutes. Once tomato paste has caramelized, stir tomato paste into vegetable mixture until well incorporated.

Add diced tomato to pot and mix until incorporated. Cook until tomatoes are softened, about 2 - 3 minutes.

Add the browned mushrooms back into the pot and mix until well incorporated.

Once fully incorporated, add the red wine to the pot to deglaze. Allow the wine to simmer for 1-2 minutes before adding the chicken/veggie stock to cover the mixture.

Once mixture is submerged in liquid, add the dried spices, thyme sprigs, and bay leaves to the pot. Stir until spices are well combined in the liquid mixture.

Partially cover the lid of the pot (such that the liquid does not splatter all over your stove top) and cook over medium heat for 1 - 2 hours. Stir mixture occasionally to prevent burning and ensure contents are cooking evenly. Remove lid for final 30 mintues of cooking for sauce to dramatically thicken.

After removing the lid, add the soy sauce and balsalmic vinegar, stir occasionally to prevent burning. Cook down until most of the liquid evaporates and sauce thickens to desired consistency.

When ready to serve, add bolognese to a medium saucepan with parmesan cheese and pasta of your choice. Toss to combine, adding pasta water as needed to prevent noodles from sticking together.

Chef Notes: The first step is really the most important. It's the difference between good and great bolognese. Browning the mushrooms adds another layer of flavor and is an easy way of imparting more umami until our "vegetarian" dish.

This goes for caramelizing the tomato paste as well. Finding space in a crowded pan is a important step in building our layers of flavor.

While this is technically cheating, adding chicken stock instead of vegetable stock, is an easy way of adding more umami (sorry vegetarians). Cooking vegetables in the protein byproducts is a very effective way to make your veggies even tastier!

Adding the soy sauce and balsamic at the end helps to round out the sauce to add sweetness and salt.

If you enjoyed this recipe, let us know in the comments below!