Absolute heaven on this cloudy day. Topped with homemade vegan ricotta, drizzle of olive oil, and fresh basil. Thank you @healthymidwesterngirl for the recipe! 🍝
I used the Millet flour rotini from @bgofood and it’s so delicious! Best gluten free pasta I’ve ever tasted! Also, @pomiusa has a great selection of lectin free tomato products. I thought it was so cool to see that they advertise as being lectin free on their site! Will definitely be cooking with more of their products in the future! 🍅
The original recipe from @healthymidwesterngirl 's site can be found here! I added more mushrooms, used 1/2 cup of wine instead of a full cup, and added an extra garlic clove because why not!
Ingredients:
16 ounces fresh cremini mushrooms
1 cup walnut pieces
1 yellow onion, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 carrots, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 celery ribs, cut into 2 inch pieces
3 cloves garlic
3 Tbsp Pomi organic tomato paste
1 26.6 oz Pomi organic strained tomatoes
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 cup water
Fresh thyme sprigs tied tightly together into a bundle with string
1 bay leaf
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
Recipe:
Place the mushrooms in a food processor, and pulse several times until finely ground. Don't over process! A little chunky or mealy is good for texture. Remove and set aside.
Place the walnuts in the food processor and process until well ground. Add them to the ground mushrooms.
Heat 1 tablespoon of water in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and the walnuts and cook until the all of the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms have browned, about 8-10 minutes.
Remove the mushroom/walnut mixture from the pot and set aside. (Don't clean out the pan; if there are areas of burned food, just scrape those out.)
Wipe out the food processor, and add the onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Process into a rough 'pulp,' about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
Heat 1 tablespoon of water in the pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable pulp (onions, carrots, celery and garlic) with a pinch of salt to the pot. Saute until all of the liquid cooks off, the color turns from bright orange to a deeper orange-brown, and the volume is reduced by about half, about 10-12 minutes. Use the liquid released from the pulp to deglaze (loosen) any dark brown remnants of the mushroom/walnut mixture and blend it in. Stir and scrape loose any browned bits from the pan if they form. Add water a little at a time if things begin to stick or get too brown.
Move the browned pulp aside to the edges of the pot, leaving an empty spot in the center. Add the tomato paste to the center of the pot, and cook about 5 minutes until it begins to brown and get dark, but not burn. (Keep stirring and scraping, adding water 1 teaspoon at a time and reducing heat a bit only if things start to get too dark or burn.) When the tomato paste has browned, stir it into the vegetable pulp.
Add the red wine to the pot to deglaze (loosen) and scrape up all of the brown bits that have formed in the pan--this adds flavor!
Add the mushroom/walnut mixture, and stir well to combine everything.
Add the strained tomatoes and water to the pot and stir well. Bring the sauce to a boil, lower the heat, and simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes so that the alcohol from the wine cooks off.
Add the thyme bundle and bay leaf, cover, and simmer for at least 30 minutes--or even better, one hour or more.
Before serving, remove the thyme bundle (and any loose stems) and the bay leaf, and season with sea salt and pepper, to taste.
Serve with gluten-free pasta of choice, and top with homemade ricotta and fresh basil. Enjoy!
For the Vegan Ricotta:
Ingredients:
2 cups blanched almonds
1 cup warm water
1 clove garlic
1 Tbsp fresh oregano, or 1 tsp dried
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
Recipe:
Put the almonds and the water in a food processor and blend until creamy, a solid 1-3 minutes. Add in all other ingredients and tweak to your liking!