Vegetable Bolognese with Fresh Pappardelle

This is a perfect pasta for a hearty meatless meal. it is also a good way to get loads of vegetables into your family without them knowing it. You process everything in a food processor so it is very fine and it cooks until it is thick and meaty. I have prepared fresh pasta but, you can easily replace with a good quality store bought fresh.

You will need:

• 1 oz dried mushrooms = about 1/2 cup
• 1/2 cup boiling water
• 5-6 fresh cremini mushrooms
• 1 large carrot
• 2 celery stalks
• 1 small onion
• 1 small red pepper
• 1 small fresh chili - medium heat
• 3 cloves garlic 
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tsp fresh rosemary
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• salt/pepper
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/2 red wine
• 3 tbsp milk
• water (you might need 1/2 cup to keep sauce from going too dry while vegetables get soft)
• fresh basil to serve
• freshly grated Parmesan to serve
• more extra virgin olive oil to serve.

Pasta

• 1 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 cup semolina flour
• 3 eggs
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt

OR use store bought fresh pasta

Gather all your ingredients.

Step 1: if you are making pasta. Add all ingredients to a food processor and turn on until a ball forms. This will take less than 1 minute. Wrap in plastic to let rest 30 minutes.

Step 2: take your dry mushrooms and add to boiling water. Set aside 5 minutes.

Step 3: take carrot, celery, onion, red pepper and chili. Pulse until fine. Remove and place in a hot pan with a generous amount of good olive oil.

Step 4: pulse fresh mushrooms, garlic and fresh herbs until fine. (I didn't even clean out the machine from the first chop)

Step 5: cook the carrot mix on medium high heat for 10 minutes to let much of the water evaporate. Add Italian seasoning, salt and pepper.

Step 6: add mushroom mix cook 5 minutes.

Step 7: add Worcestershire, balsamic, tomato paste and red wine. Let cook 10 minutes until almost dry. 

Step 8: add a bit of milk (any kind) and then water to make a sauce. Cover and cook on low for 20 minutes checking from time to time to see if you need more water. Taste it and adjust salt and pepper as necessary. 

Step 9: prepare pasta. I have a pasta attachment for my kitchenaid mixer however you can roll out and slice by hand to form thick ribbons. You can also prepare your store bought fresh pasta if you want to skip this step.

 Thin

or thick pasta!! Make sure you save some pasta water to toss your thick Bolognese with the pasta. Add some fresh grated Parmesan, parsley and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.