Vegan Lentil Mushroom Bolognese

Read our interview with MJ's Café's Mary-Brennan Faucheux and Domini Bradford here.

Yield: 6 servings

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 cups mushrooms, quartered
• 3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 medium carrot, chopped
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 - 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1 - 15 oz can lentils, or home cooked
• 1 - 3.8 oz can sliced black olives
• 8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 2 teaspoons oregano
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Vegan Parmesan Cheese (see recipe below)
• Cooked pasta (MJ's uses a quinoa pasta)

Method:

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Sauté mushrooms, garlic, carrot, onion and celery over medium heat until soft, about 8 minutes.
2. Add tomatoes, lentils, olives, basil, parsley, oregano and bay leaf. Simmer over medium to low heat for approximately half an hour until sauce thickens.
3. Remove bay leaf. Season with salt and pepper. Serve over quinoa pasta.

Vegan Parmesan Cheese

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup unsalted cashews
• 3 tablespoons nutritional yeast
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Method: Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse until a fine meal texture is attained.