Vegan Tempeh Pecan Bolognese
Ingredients
- 6oz pasta your choice (dry weight)
- 8oz tempeh
- 1/3 cup pecans* (or walnuts)
- 8 sun-dried tomatoes*, ideally unsalted
- 1 red onion, diced or sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced (or more if you like it extra garlicky)
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 1 tsp liquid smoke (optional)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt (or to taste
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning, optional
- 1/4 cup vegetable broth (more if needed)
- 1 pinch of freshly ground pepper
- 1 cup marinara (or tomato basil) sauce*
- 2 tsp coconut sugar (or maple syrup or soft dates)
- 1/4 cup vegan mozzarella shreds (or as much as your heart desires), optional
- Fresh basil to top (very optional)
Preparation
Cook the pasta according to package instructions (this should take about 7-10 minutes)
While the pasta is cooking, sauté the onion and garlic in the olive oil in a deep pan or pot over medium heat for 3 minutes
Crumble the tempeh using a fork (or your hands, but I find that a fork on a chopping board works best). Chop the pecans (roughly) and sun-dried tomatoes and add them to the pan with the tempeh and the liquid smoke
Mix well, then add the vegetable broth and cook for 2 more minutes before adding the marinara sauce, coconut sugar, salt and pepper to taste and Italian seasoning (optional). If the sauce is too thick, add a little more water or vegetable broth. If it’s not thick enough, you can thicken it by mixing in a teaspoon of cornstarch
Reduce heat to low-medium and let simmer for 3 more minutes
Add the vegan mozzarella shreds in last and mix until they’re melted into the sauce
Serve with the pasta and enjoy
Notes
This makes 2 generous servings of the sauce (which I’m a fan of), so if you’re someone who likes a little less sauce, it’ll probably be enough for 3 or even 4 if you make more pasta
If the pecans are already chopped when you measure them, you’ll only need 1/4 cup
If your marinara sauce is not or only lightly seasoned, feel free to add 1/2 - 1 tsp Italian seasoning or dried
