Macaroni with bolognese sauce and cheese is one of the most common dishes at almost any time, so today we wanted to highlight the vegan version with textured soy or tofu. Throughout the text we will explain the two options, although we use textured soybeans in the recipe for its high nutritional value.
The vegan bolognese has no mystery, it is an easy and simple recipe, the only thing is that you have to have the ingredients prepared, the kitchen clear and make us aware that later we will have to wash several pots, but that will be solved later. Now we are going to learn how to make vegan macaroni and bolognese in a few minutes, for a delicious and very nutritious recipe, thanks to the vegetables, whole wheat pasta and textured soy.
Soy is a star ingredient in vegan and vegetarian cooking, but if we are allergic to it, don't panic, we can choose tofu as an alternative. Throughout this text we are going to explain how this change is made, so that there is an equally healthy and delicious recipe.
Our vegan bolognese recipe is suitable for all kinds of recipes where a meat bolognese is needed, for example, in the filling of a Patty or dumplings, in about cannelloni, a lasagna or in macaroni and spaghetti.
Why is it a healthy recipe?
It is a recipe for vegan macaroni and bolognese, we may think a priori that it is not healthy, but it is, and quite a lot, too.
Pasta is part of the food group of cereals, which in turn is part of the well-known carbohydrates. The most appropriate thing is to take whole wheat pasta and it is the one we have chosen for our recipe. When we say integral, we mean 100% made with whole wheat flour and 100% whole grain cereals, and we emphasize this because we have to read the fine print, that is, the label.
The legislation in Spain is very vague and very scarce with the labeling of the products since a manufacturer can announce that its pasta is whole wheat, even if it only has a minimum of 5%, when in reality that, at a nutritional level, is not whole wheat, but which is refined pasta like any other.
If a product has less than 90% flour or whole grains, it is best to discard it and choose the one that does have 100% in its ingredients. Why? Because whole wheat pasta has more nutritional value, it is low in fat, more digestible, with a higher fiber content, minerals such as iron, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium and zinc, vitamins such as B, E and F, among other benefits.
Textured soy is a source of protein, since for every 100 grams of textured soy, 50 are protein. Apart from other nutritional values such as minerals and vitamins as important as calcium, iron, phosphorus, sodium and potassium, vitamin A, group B and C.
Apart from the vegetables that we will use in the recipe such as carrots, purple onion, tomato, basil, oregano, zucchini and extra virgin olive oil. In total, a serving of these vegan macaroni and bolognese provides less than 200 kilocalories, although it depends on the amount that we put on our plate, but a normal serving is equivalent to a full saucepan.
Another version with tofu
When using tofu, we subtract nutritional value, since this preparation of soybeans, water and coagulant, is lower in fat than textured soybeans, but it is also very poor in vitamins. For every 100 grams of tofu, only 8,8 grams are protein, although it also has important minerals such as calcium, iron, and potassium, since it is a soy-based product.
The best thing about this version with tofu is that it is much easier to make. When we go step by step, we will see that the textured soybeans need to be hydrated for at least half an hour and then we have to drain it well, so it is extra time that we often do not have.
However, tofu is just taking a little bit of tofu out of the package, around 400 grams, and cutting it into very small dice or mincing it. If we are going to chop the tofu, we will have to add less quantity, perhaps about 300 grams, although that depends on each one and the amount of tofu lumps they want in the vegan bolognese sauce.
Be that as it may, this vegan Bolognese sauce is suitable for macaroni, spaghetti stuffed with empanadas or dumplings, cannelloni, lasagna, and all kinds of dishes in its vegan or vegetarian version. We already know that we will have fewer calories than if we use real meat and on top of that a lot of protein, vitamins and minerals.
how to keep it
To preserve the macaroni or spaghetti with vegan bolognese sauce we have 2 options. Either keep the pasta on one side in a glass tupperware and the Bolognese sauce on the other, or keep everything together in a single glass tupperware.
We emphasize this, because it depends on how we have prepared it. There are those who cook the pasta and then, when it is drained, return it to the pot and pour the sauce inside and stir together with the cheese. And there are also those who only put both parts together once they are plated.
We also want to highlight the use of glass tupperware because we are talking about bolognese sauce, that is, there is tomato involved, what it means is that the plastic tuppers will be marked forever.
If we use a plastic tupperware, that tomato stain can be removed in a few hours, but we are talking about keeping food for more than 48 hours, and even 72 hours, so this tupperware will never be transparent again.
The glass tupperware, in addition, does not degrade over time, nor does it put food at risk. It is also important to cover with an airtight lid, to avoid contamination of food. Another important fact is to store the food at the bottom of the refrigerator, so that it does not suffer from temperature changes as it happens with the door of the refrigerator.
Both the pasta and the sauce separately, or together, we do not recommend keeping it for more than 2 days. For us and in our experience, waiting 3 days would be taking a bit of a risk, especially if it has cheese.
