Ottolenghi's The Ultimate Roasting-Pan Ragu
We love bolognese at Kitchen511 (especially when it’s made with ground lamb), but we’re willing to give up the meat in favor of this vegan version with lentils and a delicious mix of flavors, including harissa, miso, soy sauce, cumin seeds and more. As shown above in the image from Ottolenghi’s aptly named cookbook, Flavor, I typically serve the ragu over egg noodles; although I might try it over Ottolenghi’s corn polenta in the future.
Note: I added Parmesan and fresh basil as toppings. They were not included in the recipe (although Parm is shown in the picture above). If you prefer to make this recipe vegan, use vegetable stock vs. chicken stock, and opt for a vegan Parm and pasta or polenta.
Serves 6
Ingredients
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into large chunks
1 onion, peeled and chopped into large chunks
8 ½ oz oyster mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 ¾ oz. dried porcini mushrooms, roughly blitzed
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2-3 plum tomatoes, chopped into large chunks
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons white or other miso paste
2 tablespoons rose harissa
3 tablespoons tomato paste
5 tablespoons soy sauce
1 ½ tsp cumin seeds, crushed
¾ cup dried brown or green lentils
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons pearl barley
3 ¼ cup stock (vegetable or chicken)
7 tablespoons coconut cream (not coconut milk)
1/3 cup red wine
½ cup water
Salt and pepper
Freshly ground Parmesan
Chopped basil
Package of egg noodles
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400F .
Working in batches, put the carrots, onion, mushrooms, garlic, and tomatoes in a food processor and pulse until everything is finely chopped (or very finely chop everything by hand).
Put the chopped vegetables into a 9x13-inch non-stick roasting pan with at least 2 ½ inch sides. Add the olive oil, miso paste, harissa, tomato paste, soy sauce, and cumin seeds and mix very well. Bake for 40 minutes, stirring half way through, until browned in places and around the edges.
Decrease the oven temp to 375F.
Add lentils, barley, stock, coconut cream, wine, water, ¼ tsp salt and a very generous grind of pepper to the roasting pan. Stir very well, scraping the crispy sides and bottom of pan with a spatula. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for another 40 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for a final 5 minutes. Set aside and rest for 15 minutes, for the sauce to be absorbed a little before serving.
While the ragu is resting, follow directions for boiling egg noodles (or pasta of your choice).
Drain pasta and combine the ragu and noodles and mix well.
Top with grated Parmesan and chopped basil.
