Vegan Bolognese with Lentils, Mushrooms, & Walnuts
This decadent bolognese combines 8 plant foods to create a bold-flavored and nourishing pasta sauce. The mix of lentils, mushrooms, and walnuts gives it a hearty body and “meaty” texture, while the spices, umami-rich tamari, and bold red wine layer in complex flavors. Serve with red wine for the ultimate cozy winter/fall meal!
Bolognese is more than a just pasta sauce to me - it’s a whole vibe. A decadent bolognese is a favorite on nights when I’m looking to relax with a glass of wine and a laid back yet decadent homemade dinner. This sauce is my favorite bolognese I’ve eaten to date (seriously). It’s insanely delicious and hearty, filled with lots of nourishing plant ingredients and infused with rich umami flavors - the ultimate comfort meal!
Why You’ll Love this Bolognese
Plant-packed and nutritious. This bolognese combines 8 different plant ingredients (lentils, walnuts, mushrooms, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, and tomatoes) with spices, wine, and tamari to create an insanely flavorful and nutritious sauce! If you’ve tried my creamy squash curry or nourishing broccoli soup, you already know I love incorporating lots of plant variety into my dishes. While this helps meet the recommended goal of eating 40+ different plant foods each week, it also infuses lots of different flavors, textures, and nutrients into dishes!
Hearty. Between the meaty mushrooms, nourishing lentils, and rich walnuts, this sauce is super hearty! If you’re (or anyone you might serve this to is) dabbling with veganism or just working on introducing more plants into your/their diet, this is the kind of dish that showcases that plants-based meals can be extremely satiating.
Complex and balanced flavors. Earthy French lentils, nutty walnuts, sweet carrots, acidic tomatoes, umami-rich tamari and mushrooms, and bold red wine meld together to give the sauce its rich, complex flavors! This bolognese is so delicious that I usually find myself going back for seconds because I can’t seem to get enough of all the flavors. 🤤
Easy to make. It’s surprisingly easy to cook up a rich sauce without using any complex cooking techniques! Aside from the prep (chopping, food processing, and partially-cooking some lentils), making the sauce is only a matter of layering in the various ingredients throughout the cooking process! While it takes ~45-50 minutes for the sauce to cook, the actual cooking process is simple - it just needs some time to build up those flavors!
Comforting. If you ever find yourself looking for extra tasty dinner ideas for special nights, or if you simply want to cook a decadent pasta sauce for someone (or yourself!), this bolognese is it. It nourishes the taste buds and the soul, especially when served alongside a glass of medium- to heavy- bodied red wine.
Ingredient Overview
Onions, garlic, celery, and carrots. The aromatic foundation the bolognese sauce is built on! Carrots also introduce some sweetness into the sauce to contrast all the other earthy ingredients.
Spices. Fragrant oregano, fennel, crushed red pepper for a bit of heat, and a bay leaf for that certain savory je-ne-sais-quoi that you don’t necessarily know is there but you’d miss it if it wasn’t! I’ve recently rediscovered fennel seeds and I’m completely obsessed with the beautiful fragrant flavor they bring to this bolognese! 100% reminiscent of a well-spiced (vegan!) Italian sausage.
Cremini mushrooms. Creminis are quite meaty mushrooms so they bring lots of heartiness to the bolognese! Although they’re flavorful enough to stand alone as the single component in a bolognese, mushrooms pair so well with other plant foods that I couldn’t resist building on their flavor with lentils and walnuts to create a richer, more complex sauce!
French lentils. One of my favorite types of lentils, French lentils have an earthy and peppery flavor profile that pairs deliciously with umami-rich mushrooms. Because they hold their shape when fully cooked, they add a texture that’s reminiscent of mince found in traditional bolognese (but, of course, without the animal cruelty and with many more nutrients!). They’re also very rich in protein and fiber, among other vitamins and minerals!
Walnuts. For added texture, protein, and some healthy fats, as walnuts are quite rich in heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids! If adding nuts to a pasta sauce seems odd, just trust me on this one - coarsely ground walnuts introduce another textural component into the bolognese to further contribute to its “meaty” texture and heartiness!
Tomato paste. For a rich tomato-y flavor depth that thickens the sauce and complements the crushed tomatoes.
Dry red wine. To enhance/deepen all the flavors of the sauce and add even more richness! Although the alcohol cooks away, you’ll still be able to taste the wine in the final sauce, so don’t add anything you wouldn’t drink. Ideally, use a bit of the wine you serve alongside the bolognese (the sauce only needs half a cup)!
Crushed (San Marzano) tomatoes. San Marzano tomatoes are the most flavorful canned tomatoes you will ever eat (IYKYK). Grown in the volcanic terrain near Mount Vesuvius in Italy, they’re sweeter, more “tomato-y,” and less acidic than regular crushed tomatoes. While I personally prefer the flavor of San Marzanos in this sauce, don’t sweat it if you can’t find any - subbing crushed tomatoes will still result in a tasty sauce!
Tamari. To enhance all those savory umami flavors! Although I simmer the tamari along with the lentils, walnuts, and crushed tomatoes, I like to add a final splash post-cooking just to give the sauce a final umami kick!
Bolognese with Lentils, Mushrooms, & Walnuts
Vegan, Gluten-Free
Serves 4-5
Ingredients
For the sauce:
1/2 cup dry French lentils
1/2 cup raw walnuts
16 ounces cremini mushrooms, stemmed
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 medium carrots, very finely diced
1 celery rib, very finely diced
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
3 garlic cloves, crushed with the side of a knife then minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (use just a pinch to 1/4 teaspoon if sensitive to spicy foods)
1 bay leaf
3 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
HALF of one 28-ounce can of whole San Marzano tomatoes OR HALF of one 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes
1 tablespoon tamari, plus optional 1/2 teaspoon more to finish
To serve:
12-16 ounces long pasta of choice like pappardelle, gluten-free if needed (use the lower amount for a saucier pasta!)
Freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley
Directions
Bring a small pot of water to a boil and add the lentils, then turn the heat down and simmer the lentils on low for 20 minutes, until just slightly tender (they’ll continue to cook in the sauce!). Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, use a food processor to chop the nuts and mushrooms. In the small bowl of a food processor, pulse the walnuts until ground into a coarse meal. Set aside. Then, working in two batches, use the large bowl of a food processor and pulse the mushrooms until very finely diced. Set aside. Alternatively, if you don’t have a food processor or prefer not to use one, you can use a knife to very finely dice the walnuts and mushrooms by hand.
Heat a Dutch oven or large skillet over medium and add the oil. Once hot, add the diced onion, carrots, and celery and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion has softened and is lightly translucent, about 5-6 minutes.
Add the garlic, oregano, fennel, red pepper flakes, and bay leaf and cook until fragrant, stirring frequently, about 1-2 more minutes.
Add the mushrooms along with a generous sprinkle of Kosher salt and some freshly ground black pepper and stir to combine. Continue cooking the mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid the mushrooms have let off has cooked away, about 8-12 minutes.
Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, until the paste has thickened slightly.
Stir in the wine and continue cooking, stirring frequently, for 2-3 minutes until the scent of alcohol has evaporated out.
If using San Marzano tomatoes, transfer HALF a can of tomatoes and their juices into a small bowl and use an immersion blender (or your hands) to crush the tomatoes. (Skip this step if using canned pre-crushed tomatoes.)
Add in the crushed tomatoes, partially-cooked lentils, walnuts, and 1 tablespoon tamari, give everything a good stir, then simmer the sauce for 12-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the lentils have softened but are not mushy.
As the sauce simmers, cook your pasta according to package directions and drain once cooked.
Remove the bay leaf and taste the sauce, adding in an extra ½ teaspoon of tamari after cooking if you’d like a bit more sodium and an extra boost of umami (optional).
Add the cooked pasta to the sauce and stir to fully combine. Serve immediately, topping with some freshly chopped parsley.
*Recipe originally published 12/10/2020; last updated 9/1/2022.
If you try this bolognese, please leave a comment with your feedback and share it with a friend! And don’t forget to tag me on Instagram (@teostinykitchen) so I can see your cozy fall/winter dinner vibes (with or without wine)!