What is Bolognese?
A classic bolognese contains meat. The sauce is usually cooked with white wine, ground beef, onions, celery, carrots, tomato paste, olive oil, and cream for an extended time until all the flavors have mulled. It’s a thick, flavorful sauce. Bolognese was created in Bologna, Italy hence the name. YUM!
This bolognese is a lighter take on the traditional, and it’s loaded with fiber-rich ingredients. Also, instead of making the sauce from scratch, I figured I’d make this recipe more accessible by using canned sauce.
Easy Vegan Chickpea Bolognese
This dish was so easy to vegan-ize! All you need is a blender or a food processor and two cans of chickpeas, rinsed and drained. Mince up the chickpeas in the blender and voila! You now have a plant-based protein that’s the right texture for this dish.
Which Type of Pasta Should You Use?
Bolognese is all about the sauce, so feel free to use any shape of pasta you’d like! I love farfalle, aka bow-tie pasta. I’ve also made this recipe with spaghetti noodles, rigatoni, and penne rice pasta. Get creative and pick the noodle shape you love most.
Using Pre-Made Sauce for Vegan Bolognese
I love using the tomato basil pasta sauce from Trader Joes for this recipe. Using pre-made sauce like this cuts down on prep time! You’ll just have to add in some finely chopped celery, finely chopped carrots, white wine, and a bit of plant-based milk. We used some plain, unsweetened soy milk for this recipe.
Easy Vegan Bolognese
It’s so easy to turn traditional recipes into gut-healthy, vegan meals like this vegan chickpea bolognese. Since this recipe incorporates ground chickpeas, it has all the yummy texture of traditional bolognese but a lot more fiber. We love to eat pasta, but we especially love pasta with plant fiber and gut-nourishing ingredients!
- Prep: 20 Minutes
- Cook: 1 Hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Vegan Butter
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 2 Cans Chickpeans, Drained and Rinsed
- 1/3 Cup Celery, Finely Minced
- 1/3 Cup Carrots, Finely Minced
- 1/3 Cup Onion, Finely Minced
- 2 Tablespoons Minced Garlic
- 2 Jars (26 oz) Tomato Basil Marinara Sauce
- 1 Cup Soy Milk
- 1 Cup Dry White Wine
- 1 lb Farfalle Pasta
Instructions
- Using a food processor or blender, mince the chickpeas until they are similar to the consistency of ground meat.
- In a cast-iron pot, over medium heat, melt the vegan butter and add in the minced chickpeas. Cook until the chickpeas are slightly browned. Remove the minced chickpeas from the pot.
- Place the pot back over medium heat, and add in the olive oil, celery and carrots. Sautee until the carrots and celery are softened. About 5 Minutes.
- Add the chickpeas back into the pot and add in the dry white wine. Cook until the steam evaporates off.
- Add in both jars of marinara sauce and bring to a boil.
- Reduce heat to a very low simmer and stir in the soy milk.
- Cook uncovered for about one hour. Stir occasionally.
- When there’s about 30 minutes of cooktime left, boil water and cook the pasta according to the directions on the package.
- Remove the sauce from heat, add in the cooked pasta and toss to combine. Serve with some warm sourdough on the side.
