Tofu and walnuts create a delicious substitute for ground meat in this slow cooked authentic bolognese sauce. It's hearty and delicious and worth the time it takes to cook.
Heat the oil in a large dutch oven. Add the onions, carrots and celery and cook over medium heat until the vegetables are soft. Add the crushed red pepper flakes and chopped parsley, stir to combine and cook for 1 minutes.
Add the wine to the pan and continue cooking until the alcohol evaporates, stirring frequently.
Open the cans of tomato and process in a food processor or blender until smooth. Add the tomatoes and miso to the pot and season with salt and pepper. Reduce the heat to low, cover with a lid and simmer for 1½ hours. Stir occasionally while the sauce cooks. While the sauce is cooking, make the tofu crumbles.
Make the tofu crumbles
Remove the tofu from the package and rinse well. Crumble up the tofu into small pieces and place in a skillet. Add the soy sauce, olive oil, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika and yeast and mix together well. Cook over medium high heat for about 15 minutes stirring frequently. Crumbles should begin to dry up and resemble cooked ground meat.
When the tofu is just about finished, add the finely chopped walnuts to the mixture and mix to combine. Remove from heat and set aside until it’s time to add it to the sauce.
Finish the sauce
Add the cooked tofu and walnut crumbles and cook for an additional 30 minutes.
Just before serving add the milk and cook to heat.
Notes
Tips for BEST Results:Don’t cut the cooking time short. The flavors in this sauce really develop with this time. Once you get it cooking, it won’t need your full attention the entire time just an occasional stir. I set a timer for 15 minutes during the cook time to remind myself to stir which I reset until the sauce is fully cooked. This allows me to go about working on something else without forgetting to stir. Be careful substituting or eliminating flavor-adding ingredients such as the miso, nutritional yeast and coconut milk. The miso and nutritional yeast are a worthwhile investment if you cook predominantly meatless. If necessary, you can swap out one but not all three without the sauce experiencing a loss in flavor.Don’t over chop the walnuts. You want them coarsely chopped, not ground so they add enough texture to the sauce. I recommend chopping with a knife to prevent them from becoming too fine, but if you prefer to use a food processor or electric chopper, just pulse them a couple of times.