Vegetable Bolognese

Last Tuesday, I went up to Sacramento and had dinner with two of my friends, Jacque and Jordann. We affectionately refer to this as Tuesday Dinner and Booze. One of us provide the food and the other provides the booze and frivolous fun is had by all.

This past Tuesday we did a three course meal kinda thing, I wanted fish and pasta, and then a salad got thrown in for good measure. Jacque suggested that we do this Vegetable Bolognese, and I have to admit I was somewhat skeptical.

To me, bolognese is heavy pasta sauce…but this bolognese was full of flavor without the heaviness I associate with bolognese.

This bolognese was full of vegetables: mushrooms, carrots, bell peppers, onions. Mascarpone cheese is added for creaminess. All sorts of yummy goodness. I think the next time I make this, I’m going to throw in some eggplant and take out the bell peppers, I’m not a huge fan of those guys. But even if you’re not a fan of bell peppers, like me, you won’t taste them specifically – at least I didn’t. All in all, this is an awesome awesome pasta dish that doesn’t take all that long to make, about 25 minutes. Yummy and healthy! Whoop.

Since Jordann made the sauce, I don’t know exactly how much oil she used…but when I make it next time I’d probably try to use about 2 tablespoons instead of a 1/4 of a cup of olive oil.

Vegetable Bolognese

From Giada de Laurentiis

Ingredients

• 1-ounce dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 1/2 cups hot water
• 3 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 onion, peeled and chopped
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano leaves
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 5 ounces assorted mushrooms (like shiitake, cremini, and brown), stemmed and chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1/2 cup mascarpone cheese
• 1 pound rigatoni pasta
• 1/4 cup Parmesan

Directions