Vegetarian Linguine Bolognese
Giving up meat doesn’t mean you have to do without a delicious Spaghetti Bolognese! There are so many great meat free products available which are excellent substitutes, and which are so much healthier (not to mention guilt-free) than meaty versions. I love a great big bowl of pasta with a thick Bolognese style sauce. Tonight I made linguine with a sauce with Cauldron Tofu Mince and Sainsbury’s Meat Free ‘Meat’balls.
The sauce turned out excellent, and would make a great meal just on its own, without the pasta! But the meatballs were a disaster. I have used Quorn’s version of meatballs in the past, which they call Swedish Style Balls (not a very enticing name). I like these a lot, but this time I purchased the Sainsbury’s version because I am a huge fan of Sainsbury’s meat free range. I eat their veggie burgers once a week, and also enjoy their veggie mince, sausages and hot dogs. But the meatballs were not on the same level as these other products I use regularly. They look great, but the consistency is all wrong. They can only be described as squishy or spongey. Not at all the consistency of a meatball! I won’t be buying these again, and will happily stick with the Quorn version, as they have a great flavour and consistency.
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2 Responses to “Comparing Meat Free ‘Meat’balls”
This is really interesting. I love the Quorn meaballs, but Phil isn’t a huge fan. I find them easier & quicker than using regular Quorn mince when making good ol’ spag bol. I like the look of the sauce too! Just one question: What is Umami paste?!
Umami Paste is a flavour enhancer, made up of a blend of anchovies, black olives, tomatoes and porcini mushrooms. There is a pure vegetarian version available, which uses miso, shiitake mushrooms, soy sauce and green tea, amongst other ingredients. I haven’t been able to find the pure vegetarian version yet. From Wikipedia: “Umami, popularly referred to as savoriness, is one of the five basic tastes together with sweet, sour, bitter, and salty. Umami is a loanword from the Japanese umami (うま味?) meaning “pleasant savory taste”. The human tongue has receptors for L-glutamate, which is the source of umami flavor. As such, scientists consider umami to be distinct from saltiness.” When I use Umami Paste, I can’t taste the actual flavour, but the whole sauce just tastes better!