Slow cooker mushroom bolognese
Finely chopped mushrooms and vegetables simmer all day into a sauce so rich and savory you won’t miss the beef.
- 480 min total
- 30 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 6
- About $2.72 a serving
- 510 calories
- Good the next day
- Vegetarian
- Gluten-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 6 servings.
- 1 lb baby bella mushrooms
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 carrots
- 2 stalks celery
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup vegetable broth
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 tbsp miso paste
- 1 can crushed tomatoes, 28 oz
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 lb 2 oz gluten-free pasta, 1½ 12-oz boxes; regular pasta works too
- ½ cup grated parmesan, to serve
From your pantry
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1 bay leave
- 1 tbsp salt, plus 1 tsp
- ½ tsp black pepper
Each serving has about 510 calories, 14 g protein, 90 g carbs and 13 g fat, and costs about $2.72 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No baby bella mushrooms? White mushrooms work.
- No yellow onions? White onions or red onions work.
- No crushed tomatoes? Diced tomatoes work.
- No grated parmesan? Parmesan wedge works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the mushrooms, onion, carrots and celery, and the garlic.
Finely chop. Finely chopping means cutting food into small pieces, a little bigger than minced, about the size of a lentil. Small pieces spread their flavor through the dish and cook quickly.
How you’ll know: Nothing is bigger than a lentil, and the pile looks like confetti rather than paste.
Mince. Mincing means chopping something into the tiniest pieces you can, smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny pieces melt into the dish, so you get the flavor without biting into a chunk of garlic.
How you’ll know: Every piece is tiny and about the same size, and the pile starts to look almost like a paste.
Dolly’s tip: Chop the mushrooms about the size of peas. That’s what makes them eat like ground meat.the broth, tomato paste and miso in a small bowl until smooth.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Dolly’s tip: Miso is the secret. It adds the deep, savory flavor meat usually brings.Put the vegetables, garlic, oil, broth mixture, crushed tomatoes, oregano, basil, bay leaf, 1 teaspoon salt and the pepper in a slow cooker and stir.
Chop. Chopping means cutting food into bite-size pieces that don’t need to be neat. Keep them roughly the same size so everything cooks evenly.
How you’ll know: Your pieces are about half an inch and roughly alike, even if none of them are pretty.
Cover and cook on low for 6 to 7 hours, until the vegetables are very soft.
Timer: 390 min
Take out the bay leaf and stir in the cream. If it looks watery, cook it uncovered on high for 30 minutes to .
Thicken. Thickening means cooking a sauce or soup until it’s less runny, by simmering it down or adding something like cornstarch. A thicker sauce clings to food instead of pooling on the plate.
How you’ll know: It coats the back of a spoon, and a line drawn through it with your finger holds its shape.
Timer: 30 min
Bring a large pot of water with 1 tablespoon salt over high heat and cook the pasta until , tasting 2 minutes early. .
Bring to a boil. It means heating a liquid on high until it’s fully boiling before you move on. A lid on the pot gets it there faster, which makes it a good moment to chop something.
How you’ll know: Big bubbles break all over the surface, and they keep coming when you lift the lid.
Al dente. Al dente is Italian for “to the tooth”: pasta cooked until tender but with a slight firm bite in the center. It holds up in sauce and keeps softening a little after you drain it.
How you’ll know: Bite a piece a minute before the package time: tender, with a slight firm bite in the middle and no crunch.
Drain. Draining means pouring off liquid, like tipping pasta into a colander or spooning extra fat out of the pan. Pour hot grease into a can or jar, not the sink, where it hardens and clogs the pipes.
How you’ll know: Only a few drips are left, and the food isn’t sitting in a puddle.
High heatTimer: 10 min
the pasta with the sauce and serve with parmesan.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Dolly’s tip: The sauce freezes beautifully for up to 3 months, so freeze any extra for a night off.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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