Vegetarian spaghetti bolognese

Ellie2758

has anybody got any tips on how I can cook this and make it more edible?! I've tried before with a mince meat substitute and I found it dry (seemed to soak up the liquid very fast whilst cooking) and not very tasty at all. This time I am using Quorn. Anything I can add/adjustment of cooking time, that would help?

thanks

spiddy100

Hiya

I used to eat spag bol made with soya mince while I was a student. I would always soak the soya mince in hot water together with a stock cube before cooking it, this meant it was already re-hydrated and also gave it some flavour.

Sorry if you already do this!

Tam_Lin

My veggie friend swears by Asda frozen veggie mince which is already flavoured with onion and garlic. She says it's far more tasty than Quorn mince; I've not tried it myself.

If you're using dried substitute, do as spiddy suggests and soak it in stock first. Me, I'd also dollop in more garlic, red wine and tomato puree to jazz it up.

Edit: you could also add a tiny bit of powdered cinnamon to give it 'warmth.'

gremlin

I'm a veggie too and agree that the Asda own brand mince is much better than Quorn for flavour. (But higher in fat iirc)

A couple of other things I use is adding a veggie stock cube to the bolognese sauce.

A teaspoon of marmite - I hate the stuff on its own but it gives a meatier flavour to veggie mince dishes.

Hendersons relish. Its a bit like a veggie version of Worcester sauce. A few splashes of that goes in every veggie casserole I make and it really gives a deeper flavour. (I get mine at Morrisons).


Also have you tried a lentil bolognese? I know it sounds horrible and hippy and tbh I put off trying it for ages until a friend let me taste her version and its lovely. Ive got a recipe for it if you want - just let me know

Hope this helps

Jane x

Ellie2758

Jane, I'd love it!! We like lentils in this house

thanks to every body else. I will try some of these and report back.

catkins

I usually make bolognaise with lentils or sometimes lentils and soya mince. I use red lentils - these go fairly mushy and retain quite a lot of moisture

Ellie2758

How long do peeps normally cook it for? I do it for 15 mins. It's on the hob now - containing marmite, paprika, cinnamon, chill powder and I soaked the mince for half an hour before I started. Also the usual lemon juice, sugar, tomatoes, tom puree and garlic.

gremlin

Ellie2758 wrote: »

Jane, I'd love it!! We like lentils in this house

thanks to every body else. I will try some of these and report back.

you've got a pm

Flimber

Quorn mince isn't much fun. The trick is to use Realeat Vegemince and 'seal' it in a frying pan prior to adding your tomatoes (but don't overdo it). This way it doesn't soak up nearly as much moisture and you get a better 'bite' out of it. Morrisons vegemince is okay too as it's 'modelled' on the Realeat stuff. However, I despise the ASDA vegemince.

HTH,
Mike

belfastgirl23

I think veggie tomato based sauces benefit from a little bit of good quality extra virgin olive oil being added at the end of cooking. It gives it that slight oilyness that meat sauces have...

Dotmatic

I use Releat Vegemince, there's a recipe on the back of the packet for spag bol, it's delicious too