Eat: Rigatoni with Vegetable Bolognese

While not much beats a delicious home-cooked bolognese sauce, sometimes it is nice to switch it up and try a meat free version. This recipe is packed full of goodness and the addition of chilli makes it a lovely and warming dish. You can switch different vegetables in or out depending on what is in season and what you have in the fridge. It also works wonderfully in a slow cooker.

Ingredients

1 brown onion, finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, crushed

1 carrot, peeled and finely chopped

1 zucchini (courgette), chopped in 1cm pieces

1 red capsicum, chopped in 1cm pieces

10 button mushrooms, cleaned and chopped in 1cm pieces

10 brown Swiss mushrooms, cleaned and chopped in 1 cm pieces

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

1 tablespoon of tomato paste

1 cup of vegetable stock

1/2 a teaspoon of dried chilli (optional)

300 grams of Rigatoni

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1/4 a cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Fresh parsley, to serve

To make the bolognese sauce sauté onions, carrots and garlic in olive oil in a large pan until the onions are translucent. Add all other vegetables and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, stock and chilli. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer on low heat until the vegetables are cooked through and the sauce is lovely and thick (note – for a very rich sauce you can cook over a low heat for 1-2 hours if you like, just make sure that you keep adding a little water as the sauce thickens). While the sauce cooks, in salted pan of boiling water add the rigatoni and cook until al dente. Drain the pasta and serve topped with the bolognese sauce. Add Parmesan cheese to taste and top with fresh parsley. Enjoy!