Ingredients

  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 16 ounces cremini/baby Bella mushrooms
  • 1 medium onion
  • 1 medium carrot
  • 1 stalk of celery
  • 1 small zucchini
  • 1/2 cup raw cashews
  • 4 or 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 tbsp. tomato paste
  • 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 tsp. oregano or Italian seasoning
  • 1 cup vegetable stock
  • 2-15 oz. cans fire roasted tomatoes
  • 2 to 3 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp. red pepper flakes
  • Salt and pepper, to taste

Instructions

  1. Using a food processor, pulse the mushrooms until crumbled to resemble the texture of cooked ground meat.
  2. Heat a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add oil and heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms and cook until they release most all their liquid and start to turn brown.
  3. While mushrooms are cooking add the carrots, celery, onion, zucchini and garlic to the food processor and pulse to finely chopped.
  4. After the mushrooms have browned a bit add vegetable mixture and cook for about 5 minutes until the veggies soften a bit.
  5. While the veggies are cooking add the cashews to the food processor and pulse until fine and crumbly.
  6. Add the cashews to the pan and cook for another minute or two.
  7. Push the veggie nut mixture aside and make a well in the middle of the pan. Add the tomato paste and stir a bit to cook. (This will amp up and deepen the flavor of the sauce.)
  8. While this is cooking add the fire roasted tomatoes to the food processor and pulse a few times.
  9. Add the oregano and red pepper flakes (a pinch or two depending on how spicy you like your food), the nutritional yeast (this will help thicken the sauce and adds some protein), and bay leaf to the pan and stir.
  10. Reduce heat to medium. Add the Worcestershire sauce, tomatoes, and stock and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
  11. Cook until slightly thickened. Add additional nutritional yeast if you need to thicken the sauce more.

Serve over whole wheat pasta along with grilled chicken or fish; or skip the pasta and serve over a bed of cooked lentils.

Note: For a vegan option, you can substitute tamari or coconut aminos for the Worcestershire sauce (which contains anchovies).

 

Nutrition Information per serving:  168 calories, 8g protein, 21g carbs, 8g fat