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Zucchini Bolognese – Delightfully Vegetarian

March 25, 2016 By Jittery Cook 8 Comments

If you’re one of those people who eats so fast that you barely realize you’ve eaten, raise your hand. If you’re one of those people who swallows your food before you’ve chewed properly, raise your other hand. If you have both hands up, then you probably know the ills of indigestion. My hands are up there with yours, and I’m longing to lower them, forever. Apparently, one of the secrets to good digestive health is to eat slowly and to chew well, very well, for much longer than you’d imagine.

When I heard Abigail Nagorski of Farmer’s Table praise proper chewing habits to aid in bean digestion, I knew that the time had come to turn over a new leaf.

This is Abigail’s Zucchini Bolognese recipe that elicited heaps of praise and copious amounts of chewing in our demo cooking class and at my dinner table. If I didn’t tell you that the Bolognese sauce is vegetarian, you’d never know. The zucchini noodles, however, have a delightful al dente chewiness that you will not confuse with regular pasta.

Zucchini Bolognese

Zucchini Bolognese

  • 1 15 oz can cannellini beans, or other beans, rinsed, drained, divided
  • 1 1/2 c roughly chopped mushrooms
  • 2 T olive oil
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 c dry white wine
  • 1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, or 2 cups fresh, pureed
  • 1/4 c each chopped parsley, basil, divided
  • 2 zucchini spiralized into noodles, or peeled into noodles with a vegetable peeler
  • sea salt
  • pinch of red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 c thinly sliced basil
  • Parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast to garnish

Using the back of a fork, mash 1/2 cup of beans in a small bowl.

Heat oil in a medium-sized pot over medium-low heat. Add onion, salt and chili flakes. Sauté, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Add mushrooms and cook until they start to release liquid. Add garlic and cook, stirring for 30 seconds. Add wine and increase heat to high, boiling until most of the liquid evaporates, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes and their juices, 2 tablespoons each of chopped parsley and basil, the mashed and the whole beans. Simmer and cook, stirring occasionally until thickened, about 6 minutes. Either stir in zucchini noodles or divide noodles and sauce into 4 plates. Garnish with remaining parsley, basil and Parmesan cheese.

Zucchini Bolognese

Zucchini Bolognese Print Ready Recipe

Zucchini Bolognese

Final notes:

  • How good are you at forming new habits?
  • I’ve missed posting this on Meatless Monday, but feel free to prepare now far in advance of upcoming Meatless Mondays.
  • Check out these 28 irresistible zucchini noodle dishes by Hurry the Food Up.

Zucchini Bolognese

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Comments

  1. Naomi Bissell says

    March 25, 2016 at 11:00 am

    Oh I want to try this…looks yummy
    Which spiralizer do use?

    Reply
    • Jittery Cook says

      March 25, 2016 at 11:32 am

      I used the microplane spiralizer in the photo. The one that looks like a giant pencil sharpener.

      Reply
  2. mindy says

    March 25, 2016 at 11:02 am

    My hands are up! And this dish is fantastic. Such an easy spiralizer too. Love the photos.

    Reply
    • Jittery Cook says

      March 25, 2016 at 11:33 am

      It is fantastic! Can’t wait to make it again.

      Reply
  3. Jovina Coughlin says

    March 25, 2016 at 11:34 am

    Looks scrumptious. My daughter-in-law would love this dish.

    Reply
    • Jittery Cook says

      March 25, 2016 at 12:37 pm

      And I bet she’ll find the Bolognese tastes like an authentic Italian pasta sauce.

      Reply
  4. Diane Galambos says

    March 25, 2016 at 5:31 pm

    Perfection!

    Reply
    • Jittery Cook says

      March 26, 2016 at 7:56 am

      Thanks Diane. It did make for many happy mouthfuls. So simple and so good!

      Reply

Have you tried zoodles, aka zucchini noodles? Cancel reply

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