I was craving a big old bowl of pasta and this vegan cauliflower bolognese was the perfect sauce to top off my spaghetti. If you‘re a traditionalist and are thinking, cauliflower in my bolognese, what??? This isn’t your traditional bolognese sauce. Who said bolognese sauce can’t be stuffed with bits of veggies? It adds a perfectly sweet flavour which is balanced with a touch of umami flavour from the rice vinegar and dried herbs. This cauliflower bolognese sauce is not only super easy to make but it’s also incredibly healthy! Instead of ground meat, the recipe calls for cauliflower. Yes! Cauliflower! It’s such an incredible vegetable! he cauliflower is chopped really small so you don’t even know it is there. Besides, it’s also gluten-free and low in calories.
Oh my goodness, this sauce is life changing, seriously! The bolognese sauce has a meat-like consistency and has so much flavour. In order for this to be the rich, savoury tomato sauce that it is, it needs to simmered for 25-30 min. Now, that may seem like a lot (and honestly, it isn’t much considering the usual time to cook spaghetti sauce) but trust me it makes a huge difference. Tomatoes get sweeter and more rich the longer you cook them down, it will also results in a thicker sauce that can coat the noodles better. There are lentils in the sauce too, which make it super hearty and give the sauce a nice protein boost. The cauliflower and lentils give the sauce a nice, meaty texture without any meat. My meat loving parents even loved it and they had no clue it was made with cauliflower and lentils and I wasn’t about to tell them!
Benefits of Cauliflower
Have you tried cauliflower in bolognese sauce yet? This under-rated vegetable has so much to offer!
There are a lot of benefits of eating cauliflower. Cauliflower is loaded with nutrients. 100g of raw cauliflower provides 75% of the daily minimum of Vitamin C. It’s also needed for DNA repair and the production of both collagen and serotonin. Serotonin promotes happiness and healthy sleep. Cauliflower also has a lot of vitamin K which is required for bone formation. It also has smaller amounts of other important nutritions like vitamin B, phosphorus, magnesium and potassium.
There is eve a research that suggests that compounds in cauliflower could help keep cancer from developing in the first place. Cauliflower is part of the crucifer family, like Brussel sprouts and broccoli. Eating cruciferous vegetables has been linked to lower risk of heart deceases and cancer.
Since cauliflower is extremely versatile, it’s a great low carb alternative to grains and legumes.
I cannot get over how well this turned out. I’ve been trying to perfect this sauce for a couple of weeks now, with some minor tweaks here and there, and it’s finally red for you all! After 5 or 6 recipe fails in the past week, I needed a win like this delish bolognese!
IF YOU EVER GIVE THIS RECIPE A TRY, DO LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW AND/OR TAG @FRUITYEMZ AND HASHTAG #FRUITYEMZ ON YOUR INSTAGRAM POST! I WOULD LOVE TO SEE ALL YOUR YUMMY CREATIONS 🙂
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