Spaghetti Veganese

Mid-week quick dinner: Spag Bol with a bag of supermarket salad (Job's a Good 'Un). 

This is so quick to make!! Apparently "Spag Bolag" is the most popular home cooked dish in British households. (I can't vouch for the quality of the research on this stat, but it sounds true to me). So there you go.

This is my take on a British Take of the more sophisticated Italian version of Spaghetti Bolagnese. Real Italians, you should look away now. Walk right on by.

I do like mine with a little sprinkle of parmesan on top, but you can use Yeast Flakes (and now with added B12) if you are vegan. I have only just started adding wine to this recipe, so it is still really nice without. But it does make it a little richer - and you won't get any alcohol if it is cooked.

The main thing about this dish, is you gently fry all the vegetables and herbs, add the tins of tomatoes and stock. Let it simmer and meanwhile cook the pasta. Good for eating whilst slobbing on the sofa watching crap TV - e.g. I like to slag off Kirsty Allsopp - she's always on, and always ridiculous.

This, more or less is the set of ingredients I used last time:

The recipe involves: 


2 - 3 cloves garlic
1 jar of Sacla paste (my addiction)
2 - 3 red onions
3 tablespoons dried oregano
1 red or green pepper (red tastes best in my view but green gives variation n colour
250 grammes mushrooms
2 - 3 sticks celery
1 - 2 carrots
1 large or 3 - 4 baby aubergines
2 - 3 tins of tomatoes
1 vegetable stock cube
3 - 4 bay leaves
Dash of Henderson's Relish OR Hickory Liquid Smoke . (If you have not got these the recipe is fine without)

Optional
Slug of red wine
Dried basil
Fresh basil
Couple of fresh tomatoes
Handful of red lentils (takes longer to cook but gives extra bite)
sprinkle of chilli flakes (not Italian  - but some people - e.g. my old man, like chilli in everything. TBH I tend to ignore this)
Parmesan cheese - about  10 - 25grammes per person
Yeast Flakes - as a non dairy alternative flavouring to cheese



What you do: 

1. Gently fry the garlic and onions until transparent. 
2. Add the aubergines and mushrooms - sliced into bite size pieces.
3. Add the dried herbs - oregano and optionally basil. 
4. Add peppers, celery, carrots and if using fresh tomatoes.  Again these should be chopped - keep the tomatoes chopped very small. Big chunks are not so great in this. 
5. Simmer for a few minutes - it=f it starts sticking add a few dashes of water to dissolve and bits on the bottom of the pan. 
6. Finally when the vegetables are all mixed in and starting to look well coated with herbs and slightly blended together, add the liquid. That is: tinned tomatoes, Sacla sauce, Henderson's relish / Liquid Smoke and if you want, a slug of wine.  
7. Add the bay leaves and stir through.
8. Let this all simmer and make sure that the aubergines are not bitter and the carrots are soft before serving.  The longer you cook the richer the flavour - but keep it GENTLE heat. I think if you have carrots in this, use these to test the readiness - they should be soft. 
9. Remove the bay leaves before serving.
10. Serve with pasta (75g per person),  optionally grated parmesan sprinkled on top with a salad on the side. 

For your video guide see here:

And for a downloadable and printable pdf like the one on the picture, click right here.