Vegetarian Pasta di Papa

Vegetarian?

A few years ago, on a Saturday morning our daughter told us that from that day on she was vegetarian. On the one hand I was proud and happy. But on the other hand I thought what will we eat?. Up until that Saturday most, if not all of the meals I cooked were meat based. So I had to learn to cook again. After a few months I asked our kid if she missed any of our meat meals. Only Pasta di Papa was missed.

First I tried some variants of vegetarian minced meat. I didn’t like them at all. And then I found a recipe for home made vegetarian minced, uhm, vegetables. It is quite a lot of work, but this should be enough for a family of four for a few days.

Prep

Grind the oregano and the thyme, pass the cauliflower, the carrots and the chestnut mushrooms thourgh the blender. Separately blend the walnuts. Chop the onions, finely chop the garlic, blend the canned tomatoes together with the half dried tomatoes. You can add some black olives to the blend as well if you want to.

Cooking

Put olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the oregano and thyme. After a minute or two, add the onions. Leave them until the start to become soft and translucent. Now add the garlic.

After six minutes or so put the pan on high heat and add the cauliflower, the carrots and the chestnut mushrooms. Stir regularly. After some four minutes, add the walnuts. Leave for a few more minutes, and stir every now and then. Now add the wine. When it’s evaporated, add the tomatoes, the stock, the feta* pepper and if needed salt.

Let it simmer for 20 minutes with closed lid. And then let it simmer for 10 minutes without a lid to evaporate some excess liquid and thus make it more tasty.

Cook the pasta, and serve with grated cheese*, if you like. Alternatively you can use the sauce to create Puree di Papa

* If you want it vegan, leave out the feta and the grated cheese.