This vegan and gluten-free Mushroom Bolognese is easy and quick to make. I’ve used red lentil pasta to make it completely gluten-free and to add an extra portion of protein. Top it with cashew parmesan, oregano, and basil and you’ll be in pasta heaven!
I love gluten. Okay, this is a weird beginning for a gluten-free pasta recipe. But hear me out.
Lately, whenever I was hungry, I often ate bread. For breakfast? Bread. For lunch? Bread. For dinner? Bread, bread, bread. Bread is making me lazy. Bread is making me uncreative.
I love bread. More than I love myself (probably). But I felt like it would be a good idea to change things up a bit. So I started a 1-week-long gluten-free challenge. I know it’s not much. But for me, 1 week without gluten, it’s kind of a big deal! If you’re interested in what I’ll be eating every day, I’ll be sharing that on my Instagram account.
So I took this opportunity and raided my pantry for all the gluten-free goodies that had wandered farther and farther in the back. I found 3 packages of nori sheets (I’m a hoarder), green rice (I’ve bought this over a year ago and never even tried it), rice paper, and lots of gluten-free pasta (red lentil pasta, chickpea pasta, green lentil pasta, rice pasta).
For the first gluten-free meal (in this challenge), I’ve used the red lentil penne and made a bolognese sauce with mushrooms and carrots. It’s such a quick and easy recipe. I wanted to keep things simple for the first meal. I didn’t want to end up with an inedible meal. That would have been the end to my gf challenge.
I’ve made a similar Veggie Bolognese sauce countless times, so I knew the sauce would turn out great. I’ve topped the Mushroom Bolognese Pasta with homemade Cashew Parmesan, fresh basil, and oregano from the garden. I could get used to that!
A few notes on gluten-free pasta
Gluten-free pasta has a high protein content (especially when it’s made out of lentils, beans, chickpeas etc.).
I’ve found that I like gluten-free pasta much more when I drain the cooked pasta with cold water and strain it. This washes off the excess starch (?) and makes it much better.
I also like to add the gluten-free pasta to the sauce, so it’s coated nicely and to warm it up again.
Do you have any tips for making gluten-free pasta even better? Let me know in the comments!
More delicious vegan pasta recipes
- 30+ Vegan Pasta Recipes
- Quick Date Night Pasta with asparagus
- Easy Tomato Olive Pasta
- Avocado Basil Cream Pasta
- Mediterranean Pasta with Almond Feta
I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do! Let me know if you give it a try!
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Cheers, Bianca
Vegan Mushroom Bolognese
Ingredients
- 1/2 teaspoon canola oil
- 1 small red onion - chopped
- 2 garlic cloves - minced
- 2 carrots
- 9 white mushrooms
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1 cup tomato purée / passata
- 2 cups gluten-free pasta (I've used red lentil penne)
Toppings
- fresh oregano
- fresh basil
- Homemade Cashew Parmesan
Instructions
- Boil the pasta according to the instructions until soft. Then drain (to remove excess starch - I only do this with gluten-free pasta) and strain the pasta. Set it aside.
- In a large pan, add the canola oil and bring it to high heat. Add the chopped red onion and minced garlic cloves and let them cook until the onions are soft.
- Wash the carrots and mushrooms. Add them to a food processor and pulse until fine. Add the mushroom-carrot-mixture to the pan. Let it cook until softened and browned. Add the salt, dried oregano, and dried basil.
- Reduce the heat and add the tomato passata. At this point, you can add more salt, oregano, and basil to taste.
- Add the pasta to the sauce and stir to combine. Place it into bowls and top with cashew parmesan, fresh oregano, and basil.
Susan
Monday 17th of May 2021
Recently switched to plant-based eating and saw this recipe. I was skeptical that bolognese could ever be made without sausage or meat, so I made this recipe last night. Took a chance and tripled the recipe and did add 2 Tbs. of red wine. IT IS AMAZING ! Seriously. Just like any good Italian food, it's even tastier reheated the following day! I strongly believe bolognese should only be on Rigatoni and was lucky to find Banza chick pea rigatoni. It is the perfect partner for this delicious bolognese.
I have a question though. This recipe calls for White Mushrooms. I now see other bolognese recipes using portobello and other mushrooms. Is there a reason to use plain white mushrooms? Have you tried baby bellas or crimini? Just wondering. Thank you for the fabulous recipe that I will make over and over!!! YUM :o)
Bianca
Sunday 13th of June 2021
You can totally use different mushrooms like cremini or portobello! I've made this recipe with cremini mushrooms a lot of times and it's just as good!
Vaughn Pfaff
Sunday 5th of July 2020
Is the nutrition info per serving and how many servings does this make?
Bianca
Saturday 11th of July 2020
the recipe makes 2 servings and the nutrition info is per serving.
angela cupelli
Tuesday 30th of April 2019
I added a little pepper sauce with tamarind. I cooked the pasta separately and added some of the pasta h20 to the sauce which is my personal preference. beautiful recipe thank you for sharing
Miriam
Wednesday 27th of March 2019
Delicious! Thank you.
Kate Williams
Wednesday 12th of December 2018
This was delicious and easy! Definitely a keeper. Thank you!
Bianca
Thursday 20th of December 2018
Yeay! Glad to hear that!!